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AUTHOR: 


[STONE,  MRS 
ELIZABETH] 


TITLE: 


HISTORY  OF  GERMANY 

FOR  JUNIOR  CLASSES 

PLACE: 

NEWYORK 

DATE: 

[1876] 


COLUMBIA  UNIVERSITY  LIBRARIES 
PRESERVATION  DEPARTMENT 


Master  Negative  # 


BIBLIOGRAPHIC  MICROFORM  TARCFT 


Original  Material  as  Filmed  -  Existing  Bibliographic  Record 


d45 

M525 


[Stone,  Mrs.  Elizabeth] 

History  of  Germany  for  junior  classes.  By  Sutherland 
Mcnzies  ipseud.j  ...  With  coloured  map  and  illustrations. 
New  York,  G.  P.  Putnam's  sons  (18763 

344  p.  lllus.,  fold,  map,  tables,  l?*".  ( On  cover:  Putnam's  historical 
scries) 


Restrictions  on  Use: 


1.  Germany — Hist. 


Library  of  Congress 


DDOO.SSr) 
it()l)l| 


4— 280C9 


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Association  for  Information  and  Image  Management 


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MfiNUFRCTURED   TO   RUM   STRNDORDS 
BY  APPLIED  IMAGE,    INC. 


vni. 
THE  ATLAS  OF  SCRIPTURE  GEOGRAPHY. 

16  Maps,  witli  Questions  on  each  Map.     Small  4to,  flexible,  cloth,  75 

cents. 

9.  Modern  Palestine. 

10.  Physical  Map  of  Palestine. 

11.  Journeys  of  the  Apostlo  Panl. 

12.  The  distribution  of  the  Prevailing 
Religions  of  the  World. 

13.  Tlie  Tabernacle,  Camp,  etc. 

14.  Solonion'sTemple  and  ilerod'sTemplo. 

15.  Ancient  Jerusivlem. 

16.  Modern  Jerusalem. 


The  Ancient  World, 
countries   mentioned  in   the    Scrip- 
tures. 
Janaan,  in  the  time  of  the  Patriarchs. 
Journeying  of  the  Israelites. 
J.  Canaan  as  divided  amongst  the  Tribes. 
6.  Dominions  of  David  and  Solomon, 
r.  Countries  of  the  Jewish  Captivities, 
3.  Palestine  in  the  time  of  Christ. 


IX. 

THE  HANDBOOK  OF  SCRIPTURE  GEOGRAPHY. 

16  ^Taps  and  Plans,  with  Questions  and  Answers  on  eacli  map. 
IGmo,  cloth  extra. 

X. 

THE  STUDENT'S  ATLAS  OF  MODERN  AND  CLASSICAL 

GEOGRAPHY. 

Consisting  of  50  Maps,  with  Descriptive  Letterpress.  Half  morocco, 
extra,  $6.00. 

XI. 

THE  ACADEMIC  ATLAS. 

Consisting  of  32  Maps,  Imp.  4to,  with  a  copious  Index.  Cloth 
extra.,  $2.50. 

xn. 
THE  LIBRARY  ATLAS. 

Consisting  of  100  Maps  of  Modem,  Historical,  and  Classical  Geo- 
graphy, etc.,  with  Descriptive  Letterpress  and  copious  Indices. 
Imp.  8vo,  half  morocco  extra,  $14.0. 


Some  few  of  the  Criticisms  on  "Putnam's  Series  op  Atlases.** 

"The  International  Atlas  ...  is  handsome  and  accurate,  beautifully 
engraved  and  exquisitely  coloured  ...  of  exceptional  completeDess."— iV.  Y, 
Evening  Mail. 

*'  The  Maps  are  well  executed,  and  the  work  is  most  convenient  for  reference.**— 
N.  Y.  Tribune. 

"The  Maps  of  the  Classical  Atlas  are  of  exquisite  clearness  and  beauty.**— 
Christian  Union. 

"The  Maps  of  the  Portable  Atlas  are  excellent,  and  the  series  to  which  it 
belongs  contains  the  best  low-priced  atlases  in  the  market." — N.  Y.  Evening  Moil. 

**  The  Scripture  Atlas  is  full,  accui-ate,  clear,  and  portable."— C/ins<Ja?j.  Union, 

*' We  refer  to  it  with  edification  and  delight." — Rhode  Island  Schoolmaster. 

**A  very  complete  and  compendious  work,  apparently  accurate  and  in  beautiful 
Btyle."— /Jev.  Stephen  H.  T>/ng,  D.D. 


G.   P.   PUTNAM'S  SONS, 
182  Fifch  Avenue,  New  York. 


vi 


Xr. 


PUTNAM'S  SERIES  OF  ATLASES, 


I. 

THE  STUDENTS  ATLAS  OF  PHYSICAL  GEOGRAPHY, 

Consisting  of  20  ^Taps  with  Descriptive  Letterpress.  Illustrated  by 
numerous  Engravings.  Glasgow  and  New  York.  Imp.  8vo, 
cloth  extra,  §2.  ^O. 

II. 

THE  COLLEGIATE  ATLAS. 

A  new  comprehensive  and  useful  Atlas  of  Modern  Geography  for  the 
Library  and  for  ordinary  reference,  with  about  40  Maps.  Glasgow 
and  New  York.     Imp.  8vo,  cloth  extra,  $4.00. 

III. 

FOR  REFERENCE,  LIBRARIES,  AND  FOR  FAMILY  USE. 

THE  INTERNATIONAL    ATLAS-GEOGRAPHICAL, 
POLITICAL,  CLASSICAL,  AND  HISTORICAL. 

Consisting  of  65  ^laps — 35  of  Modern  Geography,  showing  all  the 
latest  Discoveries  and  changes  of  Boundaries;  and  SO  of  Historical 
and  Classical  Geograi)hy,  with  Descriptive  Letterpress  of  Histori- 
cal and  Classical  Geograjihy,  by  Wm.  T.  Collikr,  LL.D,,  and 
Leonhakd  Scumitz,  LL.D.  Imp.  8vo,  cloth  extra,  §6.00;  half 
morocco  extra,  §8.00. 

IV 

THE  STUDENT  S  ATLAS  OF  CLASSICAL  GEOGRAPHY. 

Containing  15  Maps,  Imp.  8vo,  with  Descriptive  Letterpress,  by 
Leon  HARD  Sciimitz,  LL.D.     Cloth,  §1.50. 

V. 

THE  STUDENT'S  ATLAS  OF  HISTORICAL  GEOGRAPHY. 

Consisting  of  16  Maps,  Imp.  Svo.  Constructed  and  Engraved  by 
Miller,  with  Descriptive  Letterpress  by  AVm.  F.  Collier, 
LL.D.,  and  fuU  Index.     Cloth,  §1.50. 

VI. 

THE  STUDENT'S  ATLAS  OF  HISTORICAL  AND 
CLASSICAL  GEOGRAPHY. 

(The  two  above  works  bound  together).  Containing  30  Maps,  with 
Descriptive  Letterpress.     Cloth,  §2.50. 

VIT. 

THE  PORTABLE  ATLAS  OF  MODERN  GEOGRAPHY. 

Constructed  and  Engraved  by  John  Bartholomew,  F.  R.  S.  A, 
With  16  Maps.     Imp.  8vo,  cloth,  §1. 


HISTORY  OF   GERMANY 


FOB 


JUNIOR    CLASSES. 


BY 


SUTHERLAND    MENZTES, 

AUXHOB  OF  "HISTORY  OF  FRANCE." 


8Hil^  doloureb  glap  anb  llluslrations. 


"*Kv., 


NEW    YORK: 
GEORGE  P.  PUTNAM'S  SONS, 

182  FIFTH  AVENUE. 


\i-4ti 


.      I. 


mvw  'ipnnry^mw* 


PREFACE. 


I 


^vSS^) 


The  Empire  of  Germany  is  a  gigantic  figure  in  the 
retrospect  of  History;  and,  in  tracing  a  rapid  outline  of 
tlie  salient  events  occurring  in  its  extended  annals,  to- 
gether with  the  earlier  records  belonging  to  the  Teutonic 
race,  as  well  as  brief  notices  of  the  lives  and  characters 
of  its  most  famous  personages,  the  difficulty  with  which 
the  author  has  had  to  contend  was  to  avoid  the  obscu- 
rity often  incidental  to  conciseness.  In  this  History, 
therefore,  he  has  endeavoured  to  obviate  such  result  as 
far  as  possible  by  a  careful  registration  of  dates,  and  by 
division  of  the  several  periods  into  short  paragraphs, 
with  the  headings  of  their  several  subjects  given  in  larger 
type  than  that  of  the  text. 

By  adopting  such  plan,  it  is  earnestly  hoped  that  both 
teacher  and  pupil  will  be  enabled  to  grasp  and  retain 
C  with  gi-eater  facility  any  given  period  of  German  history 
J  required   to   be    entered   upon  in   the   course   of  their 


scholastic  readinsj. 


L"^' 


en 


SUTHERLAKD   MeXZIES. 


Ainllf  1S73. 


J  • 


i\ 


3t99 


CONTENTS. 


Introduction, 
Primitive  ropulations, 


PAOB 


9 


FIRST  PERIOD. 

From  the  most  Ancient  Times  to  tlie  Conquests  of  tlio 
Franks  under  Clovis  (486  A.  D. ), 


15 


SECOND  PERIOD. 
From  the  Conquests  of  Clovis  to  Charlemagne  (511-76S),  33 


THIRD  PERIOD. 
From  Charlemagne  to  Henry  I.  (7GS-919),  .  •        53 

FOURTH  PERIOD. 

From  Henry  I.  to  Rodolphus  of  Hapsburg  [The  Saxon 

SicabiaUj  and  Ilohendaufoi  Houses).— dld-l'Il'S,     •        73 


[\ 


FIFTH  PERIOD. 

From  Rotlolpb  I.  of  Hapsburg  to  Charles  V.  [Enipcrora 
of  (liferent  Houses).— 12^3-1520,       . 

SIXTH  PERIOD. 
From  Charles  V.  to  the  Peace  of  Westphalia  (1519  -1GI8), 


147 


:o4 


8 


CONTEXTa 


SEVENTH  PERIOD. 

From  the  Peace  of  Westphalia  to  the  French  Revolution 
(1648-1789),   .  .  ,  .  . 


PAGE 


245 


EIGHTH  PERIOD. 

From  the   French    Revolution    to  the    Peace  of    Paris 
(1789-1815), 


2G4 


HISTORY  OF  GERMANY. 


KINTH  PERIOD. 

From  the  Peace  of  Paris  to  the  Franco -Prussian  TVar 

(1815-1870-71),  .  .  .  ,202 


German  Progress  in  Literature,  Art,  and  Science,    .      314 
Index,  ••...,.      332 


INTRODUCTIOK 

PRIMITIVE     POPULATIONS. 

Almayne,  the  ancient  Germany,  took  its  name  from  one 
of  its  most  warlike  tribes,  the  AlaTnanniy  or  Allemanin 
(all  sorts  of  men).  Germany,  the  name  now  given  to  the 
whole  country,  is  most  generally  supposed  to  be  Roman, 
though  the  word,  by  some,  is  thought  to  be  derived  from 
a  Teutonic  word  which  signifies  "  warlike."  *  Its  ancient 
limits  were  probably  not  very  different  from  those  of  the 
country  which  still  bears  that  appellation.  It  is  bounded 
on  the  east  by  Hungary  and  Poland,  on  the  north  by 
the  Baltic  Sea  and  Denmark,  on  the  west  by  France  and 
the  Netherlands,  and  on  the  south  by  the  Alps,  Switzer- 
land, Italy,  the  Adriatic,  and  Dalmatia. 

Germany,  according  to  the  description  of  the  Romans, 
was,  at  the  time  they  first  became  acquainted  with  it,  a 
rude  and  inhospitable  land,  full  of  immense  forests, 
marshes,  and  desert  tracts.  The  great  Hercynian  forest, 
by  Ca;sar*s  account,  extended  from  the  Alps  over  a  space 
that  in  its  length  occupied  sixty,  and  in  its  width  nine 
days*  journey;  consequently,  all  the  chief  mountain  chains 

*  Most  probably  from  the  word  gei\  spear  or  lance,  and  the 
word  man — the  man,  the  lord  or  chief :  therefore  a  warlike  title 
of  honour  which  distinguished  the  manliness  and  valour  of  the 
nation.  War  and  hunting  were  their  constant  occupation;  so 
much  so,  that  lance  and  man  were  as  synonymous  as  spindle  and 
woman. 


10 


HISTORY  OF   GEliilANY. 


and  forests  of  the  present  Germany  must  be  tlie  remnants 
of  that  stupendous  wooded  range. 

Ancient  authors  mention  several  German  tribes,  as 
well  as  their  dwelling  places,  with  greater  or  less  precision. 
Several  of  them  also  speak  of  the  chief  tribes,  among 
which  the  single  septs  united  themselves.  But  their 
statements  are  not  sufficiently  unanimous  or  precise  to 
give  us  that  clear  view  which  we  would  so  willingly 
obtain.  The  origin  of  the  Germanic  nations,  therefore, 
like  that  of  all  others,  is  unceii:ain.  To  assign  to  them  a 
distinct  historical  origin  is  to  make  an  assertion  without 
evidence,  though  it  is  now  indisputably  established  that 
the  Teutonic  dialects  belong  to  one  great  family  with  the 
Latin,  the  Greek,  the  Sanscrit,  and  other  European  and 
Asiatic  tongues.  All  the  positive  knowledge  that  we 
have  of  the  German  nations,  previous  to  their  contact 
with  the  Romans,  is  exceedingly  vague  and  mere  conjec- 
ture. 

The  nations  foraiing  the  Suevic  race,  as  Ciesar  and 

Tacitus   describe  them,  dwelt   in  the   large   semi-circlo 

traced  by  the  upper  and  middle  Rhine  and  the  Danube, 

through  the  middle  of  Germany,  and  farther  towards  the 

noi-th^'to  the  East  Sea,  so  that  they  occupied  the  country 

of  the  Necker.  the  Maine,  the  Saale,  and  then  the  right 

Elbe  bank  of  the  Havel,  Spree,  and  Oder.     Tacitus  even 

places  Suevic  tribes  beyond  the  Vistula,  as  well,  in  the 

interior,  as  on  the  coasts  of  the  Baltic,  and  beyond  it  in 

Sweden.     Grounds  of  probability  admit,  indeed,  of  our 

placing  a  third,  the  Gothic- Vandal  tnbe,  between  the 

Oder  and  the  Vistula,  and  along  the  latter  stream;  but 

as  distinct  infomiation  is  wanting,  we  can  but  allude  to 

it     The  Snevi,  as  Ctesar  informs  us,  had  early  formed 

themselves  into  one  large  union,  whose  piinciples  wei-e 

distinctly  warlike.     The  love  of  arms  was  assiduously 

cherished  in  all,  that  they  might  be  ever  ready  for  any 

undertaking.     Thence  it  was  that   individuals  had   no 

fixed  landed  possessions;    but  the  princes  and   leaders 

yearly  divided  the  land  among  the  families  just  as  it 

pleased  them;  and  none  were  allowed  even  to  select  tlio 


INTRODUCTION^. 


11 


same  pastures  for  two  consecutive  years,  but  were  forced 
to  exchange  with  each  other,  that  neither  might  accustom 
himself  to  the  ground,  and,  acquiring  an  attachment  to 
his  dwelling-place,  be  thus  induced  to  exchange  the  love 
of  war  for  agriculture.  They  were  afraid  that,  if  an 
individual  were  permitted  to  acquire  an  extensive  tract, 
the  powerful  might  chase  away  the  poor,  build  large  and 
imposing  dwellings,  and  that  the  lust  of  wealth  might 
give  rise  to  factions  and  divisions.  Besides  which,  they 
were  obliged,  from  each  of  their  hundred  districts,  to 
supply  the  wars  with  a  thousand  men  yearly,  and  those 
who  remained  at  home  cultivated  the  land  for  all.  The 
following  year,  on  the  other  hand,  the  latter  marched 
under  amis,  and  the  former  remained  at  home,  so  that 
agiiculture  as  well  as  the  art  of  war  were  in  constant 
exei'cise. 

In  these,  although  rude  principles  of  the  Suevic  union, 
a  great  idea  manifests  itself,  and  proves  that  the  ancient 
Germans,  about  the  period  of  the  birth  of  Christ,  were 
by  no  means  to  be  reckoned  among  the  savage  tribes. 

The  territory  of  the  Suevi,  a  single  German  nation, 
was  divided  into  one  hundred  districts,  and  could  bring 
two  hundred  thousand  warriors  into  the  field.  Agricul- 
tural labour  was  usually  pei*formed  by  slaves.  They 
kept  bees,  and  made  mead  of  the  honey;  and  besides 
corn,  they  raised  oats  and  barley,  from  which  they  made 
ale,  their  favourite  beverage. 

The  Germans  were  noted  for  their  love  of  feasting, 
which  was  carried  to  such  excess  that  they  would  some- 
times remain  whole  days  and  nights  at  table,  drinking 
and  gaming,  in  consequence  of  which  they  very  often 
quarreled  and  fought,  so  that  a  convivial  meeting  fre- 
quently terminated  in  bloodshed.  They  gambled  with 
dice,  as  Tacitus,  with  astonishment,  informs  us,  in  a  sober 
state,  and  as  a  serious  occupation,  and  with  so  much 
eagerness  for  gain,  that  when  they  had  lost  their  all,  they 
hazarded  their  freedom,  and  even  their  very  pereons,  upon 
the  last  cast.  Tlie  loser  freely  delivered  himself  up  to 
slavery,  although  even  younger  and  stronger  thai;  his 


12 


HISTORY   OP   GER^fAXY. 


INTRODUCTION. 


13 


adversary,  and  patiently  allowed  himself  to  be  bound  and 
sold  as  a  slave;  thus  steadfastly  did  they  keep  their  word, 
even  in  a  bad  case.  "  They  call  this  good  faith;'  says  the 
Roman  writer.  There  were  various  circumstances  under 
which  a  German  might  forfeit  his  libeii;y,  such  as  mariy- 
ing  a  bondwoman,  or  of  not  being  able  to  pay  his  debts ; 
but  the  generality  of  the  slaves  were  captives  taken  in 
war. 

The  Germans  did  not  all  sit  down  at  the  same  table, 
but  each  man  had  his  own  seat  and  board,  which  were  of 
a  very  rough  description,  being  merely  a  wooden  stool 
and  table,  furnished  with  drinking  horns,  wooden  bowls, 
spoons,  and  platters.  Each  person  of  rank  had  his  ser- 
vant behind  him  to  hold  his  shield  and  spear.  He  kept 
his  swcrd  by  his  side,  for  on  no  occasion  would  a  German 
part  with  his  arms,  which  was  a  proof  that  he  expected 
to  have  frequent  need  of  them. 

The  wives  and  daughters  of  the  Germans,  we  are  told, 
shared  in  all  the  public  entertainments,  for  however  rude 
,and  fierce  these  people  might  be  in  other  respects,  they 
were  distinguished,  even  in  the  most  barbarous  ages,  for 
their  attention  and  respect  to  the  female  sex,  whom  the> 
consulted  on  the  most  important  affairs,  and  by  whose 
opinions  they  were  very  often  guided.  The  feasts  of  the 
Germans,  like  those  of  the  Gauls  and  Scandinavians, 
were  always  attended  by  a  number  of  bards,  several  of 
whom  were  attached  to  the  fiimily  of  every  chief,  and 
were  treated  with  the  highest  respect.  They  played  on 
the  harp  and  flute,  and  when  they  sang  of  war,  the 
company  took  part  in  tlie  concert  by  clashing  their  swords 
against  their  shields. 

The  Germans,  in  very  remote  ages,  were  dressed  in 
skins  of  wild  animals,  and  afterwards  in  a  coarse  kind  of 
linen,  made  by  the  women;  but  as  they  intermixed  more 
with  the  Gauls,  they  learnt  from  them  to  make  a  finer 
sort  of  linen,  and  woollen  also,  and  as  soon  as  they  were 
acquainted  with  these  useful  arts,  spinning  and  weaving 
became  the  principal  occupations  of  German  women,  and 
a  more  civilised  costume  was  adopted  than  that  which  was 


made  from  the  skins  of  the  elk  and  reindeer.  These 
animals,  in  the  time  of  Julius  Caesar,  were  very  numerous 
in  the  forests  of  Germany,  from  which,  however,  they 
have  long  since  disappeared. 

The  Romans  justly  considered  the  German  nation  as 
an  aboriginal,  pure,  and  unmixed  race  of  people.  They 
resembled  themselves  alone;  and  like  the  specifically 
similar  plants  of  the  field,  which,  springing  from  a  pure 
seed,  not  raised  in  the  hotbed  of  a  garden,  but  germinat- 
ing in  the  healthy,  free,  unsheltered  soil,  do  not  differ 
from  each  other  by  varieties;  so  also,  among  the  thousands 
of  the  simple  German  race,  there  was  but  one  determined 
and  equal  form  of  body.  Their  chest  was  wide  and 
strong;  their  hair  yellow,  and  with  young  children  it  was 
of  a  dazzling  white.  Their  skin  was  also  white,  then- 
eyes  blue,  and  their  glance  bold  and  piercmg.  Their 
powerful  gigantic  bodies,  which  the  Romans  and  Gauls 
could  not  behold  without  fear,  displayed  the  strength 
that  nature  had  given  to  this  people;  for,  according  to  the 
testimony  of  some  of  the  ancient  writers,  their  usual 
height  was  seven  feet.  From  their  earliest  youth  upwards 
they  hardened  their  bodies  by  all  devisable  means.  New- 
born infants  were  dipped  in  cold  water,  and  the  cold  bath 
was  continued  during  their  whole  lives  as  the  strengthen- 
ing renovator,  by  both  boys  and  girls,  men  and  women. 
The  children  ran  about  almost  naked,  and  effeminate 
nations  wondered  how  those  of  the  Germans,  without 
cradles  or  swaddling  bands,  should  grow  up  to  the  very 
fullest  bloom  of  health. 

Ciesar,  Tacitus,  and  Suetonius,  with  many  othei-s,  have 
pointed  to  one  and  the  same  characteristic  of  the  Germans, 
as  the  secret  of  their  power  and  prosperity.  The  Kelt 
had  everywhere  yielded  to  the  eagles  of  Rome,  while  the 
Teuton  everywhere  checked  their  flight.  Amazed,  and 
even  alarmed,  at  those  tall,  fair-haired,  blue-eyed  enemies, 
who  had  to  be  conquered  with  gold  instead  of  steel, 
Tacitus  examines  the  reasons  of  their  prowess,  and  finds 
it  in  the  soberness  of  theii-  blood,  in  their  reverence  for 
women  and  for  the  laws  of  nature,  in  their  deference  to 


u 


niSTORV  OF  GERMANY. 


INTRODUCTION. 


15 


parental  autliority,  and  their  marriages  of  maturity. 
"Chastity  is  a  custom  with  them,"  says  the  "De  Moribua 
Germanorum;"  and  a  passage  to  the  same  effect  might  be 
cited  from  Caesar.  Those  southern  soldiera  and  statesmen 
saw,  in  truth,  with  a  terrible  sense  of  over-hanging  fate, 
that  race  of  hardy,  chaste,  home-loving,  free,  and  fearless 
barbarians,  of  whom  Titus  the  emperor  said,  "Their 
bodies  are  great,  but  their  souls  are  gi-eater."  It  has 
been  well  written  about  this  same  treatise,  the  "  De 
Moribus:"  The  tone  of  Tacitus  is  that  of  a  man  who 
bitterly  feels  how  much  gi^eater,  after  all,  as  a  moral 
being,  the  barbarian  may  be  than  the  civilised  man, 
when  civilization  recognises  no  higher  aim  than  material 
splendour,  and  that  utility  which  subserves  material 
wants.  Other  civilizations  than  that  of  the  Empii-e  may 
read  a  lesson  in  those  brief  pages  where  the  philosopher 
of  a  worn-out  world  records  his  impression  of  the  races 
from  which  that  world  was  hereafter  to  be  i-econstituted. 
These,  then,  were  the  grand  old  Teutonic  beginnings, 
the  qualities  and  habits  which  rendered  the  Alemanni  so 
strong. 

Religion  of  the  Ancient  Germans.— Although  the 

Burgundians,  Lombards,  and  Franks  had  embraced  Chris- 
tianity two  hundred  years  before  the  other  tribes,  the 
greater  part  of  Germany  seems  to  have  continued  in 
heathen  darkness  until  the  eighth  century,  when  mission- 
aries from  the  Churches  of  England,  Scotland,  and  Ireland, 
left  their  own  shores  to  preach  the  Gospel  of  Christ  in 
the  forests  of  their  ancient  fatherland.  The  worship  ot 
the  ancient  Gei-mans  coincided  with  their  natui-al  chamctor, 
and  consequently  was  much  more  simple  and  elevated 
than  that  of  other  i)eoples.  Although  uncultivated,  they 
carried  in  their  hearts  the  sentiment  of  an  infinite  and 
eternal  ix)wer,  and  they  regarded  it  as  an  affront  to  the 
Divinity  to  enclose  it  within  walls,  or  to  represent  it 
under  human  form.  They  consecmted  to  it  the  woods 
and  forests  as  a  spacious  temple  of  which  nature  itself 
erected  the  pillai-s,  and  to  which  the  immensity  of  the 
heavens  formed  the  roof,  • 


ii 


The  ancient  Germans  adored,  like  the  Pei^sians,  the 
sun  and  fire,  but  they  regarded  Wodan  as  their  supreme 
god.  They  called  him  also  Alvater,  father  of  all  things. 
Their  most  beneficent  goddess  was  the  mother  of  the 
earth  (Ilertha),  The  Germans  attached  great  importance 
to  divinations  and  prognostics.  The  crow  and  the  owl 
signified  misfortune;  the  cuckoo  announced  long  life. 
They  discovered  the  future  by  means  of  the  branches  of 
fruit  trees  (runes).  Various  signs  were  cut  upon  each 
rod,  and  afterwards  the  rods  were  thrown  upon  a  white 
cloth;  then  the  priest,  or  father  of  the  family,  offered  up 
a  prayer  to  the  divinity,  and  thrice  chose  from  among  the 
I'ods  those  which  were  to  give  the  di^dne  revelations. 
The  clairvoyants  were  held  in  high  estimation,  and 
history  has  preserved  some  of  the  names  of  those  to  which 
the  belief  of  the  people  had  given  a  gi^eat  influence  over 
the  decision  of  public  affairs.  Tacitus  names  Aurinia 
(probably  Abruna),  as  deeply  versed  in  the  mysteries  of 
runic  rods ;  the  celebi'ated  Weleda,  who,  from  the  summit 
of  a  tower  upon  the  banks  of  the  Lippe,  governed  the 
people  of  the  Lower  Rhine;  and  a  certain  Gauna  of  the 
time  of  Domitian.  In  the  expedition  of  the  Cimbri, 
and  in  the  army  of  Ariovistus,  there  were  also  female 
prophets. 


FIRST    PERIOD, 


FROM  THE  MOST  ANCIENT  TIMES  TO  THE  CONQUESTS  OF  THE 
FRANKS  UNDER  CLOVIS. — 486  A.D. 

The  eai'ly  history  of  the  Germans,  like  that  of  all  nations 
who  had  no  written  records,  is  involved  in  much  obscurity. 
The  first  accurate  knowledge  of  their  transactions  was 
that  of  the  invasion  of  the  country  by  the  Gauls,  com- 
manded by  Segovesus,  king  of  the  Keltse;    whilst  his 
brother  Bellovesus  marched  with  another  army  into  Italy, 
Segovesus  crossed  the  Rhine,  and  gained  a  settlement 
near  the  Hercynian  Forest.      The  Gennans,  however, 
soon  acted  on  the  oflensive,  and   expelled   the  Gauls, 
and,  by  the  assistance  of  the  Belgje,  one  of  their  most 
warlike  tribes,  gained  possession  of  some  territory  to  the 
west  of  the  Rhine,  where  they  were  enabled  to  fix  and 
maintain  themselves  so  fiimly  as  never  to  be  driven  out, 
and  whence  they  extended  themselves  to  the  sea-coasts 
of  Britain,  and  even  drove  its  inhabitants  into  the  interior. 
The  Germans  and  Gauls,  thus  brought  into  contact  with 
each  other,  continued  to  hold  vaccillating  intercourse, 
sometimes  at  war,  at  other  times  in  alliance  in  opposition 
to  the  power  of  the  conquering  and  disciplined  Romans. 
The  Germans,  under  the  name  of  Cimbri,  then  invaded 
the  territory  of  Rome,  and  spread  such  terror,  that  Marius, 
by  a  deviation  from  the  law,  was  appointed  consul,  to 
command  an  army  against  them.     After  various  marches 
during  some  years,  in  102  B.C.  Marius  with  an  army  of 
52,000  men,  attacked  the  barbarians  on  the  banks  of 
the  Rhone,  and  though  they  are  said  to  have  mustered 
300,000  foot  and  15,000  hoi-se,  completely  defeated  them, 
with  a  loss  of  150,000  killed  and  60,000  prisoners.    Many 
preferring  death  to  slavery,  underwent  militaiy  execution, 


FROM    THE   3I0ST   ANCIENT   TIMES. 


17 


and  a  few  were  scattered  over  Gaul,  or  crossed  the  Danube 
and  so  escaped  to  their  own  country. 

A  peace  ensued  between  the  Romans  and  Germans 
which  lasted  until  Julius  Caesar,  having  completed  the 
subjugation  of  Gaul  and  extended  his  conquests  to  the 
Rhine,  fii-st  became  acquainted  with  the  Gennan  name. 
The  name  of  Germani  was  first  applied  by  Caesar  to 
the  whole  nation  east  of  the  Rhine,  though  it  properly 
belonged  only  to  those  tribes  which  he  conquered  in  Gaul. 
Ariovistus,  the  leader  of  a  tribe  that  dwelt  to  the  soutli 
of  the  Danube,  attempted  to  fix  his  establishment  in 
Gaul,  but  was  defeated  by  Ctesar,  and,  with  the  loss  of 
80,000  men,  driven  across  the  Rhine.  Caesar  built  a 
bridge  over,  and  twice  passed  that  river  at  the  head  of 
his  army,  not  with  the  view  of  permanent  conquest,  but 
to  secure  his  province  of  Gaul  against  the  attacks  of  the 
barbarians.  The  civil  wars,  which  first  occupied  Caesar 
and  Pompey,  and  afterwards  Mark  Antony  and  Brutus 
and  Cassius,  left  the  Germans  opjoortunities  to  attempt  in- 
cursions. The  confederation  of  the  Segambri  passed  the 
Rhine,  and  having  repelled  the  attacks  of  Agrippa,  settled 
themselves  on  the  western  side  of  that  river;  but  a  few 
years  afterwards  they  were  defeated  by  Lollius,  the  legate 
of  Augustus,  when  14  years  B.C.,  Drusus,  the  son-in-law 
of  the  emj^eror,  achieved  a  succession  of  victories  which 
had  placed  nearly  the  whole  of  northern  Germany  at  his 
mercy.  His  career,  however,  was  cut  short  by  a  fall 
from  his  horse,  which  i*esulted  in  his  death  (8  b.c.).  He 
was  succeeded  by  Tiberius,  who,  during  his  command, 
not  only  sustained  the  power  which  Drusus  had  acquired, 
but  extended  it  towards  the  north;  and,  by  intrigues 
among  the  natives,  as  much  as  by  his  force,  induced 
many  of  the  tribes  to  solicit  peace,  and  excited  others 
to  enter  into  the  military  service  of  Rome. 

The  great  prosperity  of  the  reign  of  Augustus  was  first 
interrupted  by  the  rebellion  of  the  Germans,  which  the 
extortions  of  Quintilius  Vanis  provoked.  The  best  legions 
ot  Rome  wei"e  entinisted  to  his  command,  with  the  suj^er- 
intendence  of  the  territories  lying  between  the  Rhine 

B 


18 


niSTOEY  OP  GERMAN 


X.» 


FROM   THE  MOST  ANTIEXT   TIMES. 


19 


and  Elbe,  and  the  Alps  and  Danube,  which  had  been 
added  by  Drusus  and  Tiberius  to  the  Roman  dominions. 
Arminiua  (Herman),  a  young  prince  of  the  Catti,  who  was 
educated  at  Rome,  and  who  had  served  in  the  Roman 
armies,  united  his  countrymen  in  a  secret  confedei-acy; 
and  then,  pretending  friendship  to  Varus,  conducted  him 
into  the  depths  of  the  forest  of  Teutoburg  (a.d.  9),  where 
his  troops  could  neither  fight  nor  retreat.     In  this  situa- 
tion, Arminius  attacked  the  Romans,  from  whose  camp 
he  stole  by  night,  and  so  harassed  them  that  most  of  the 
officer  slew  themselves  in  despair.    The  legionaries,  thus 
left  without  leaders,  were  cut  to  pieces;  and  thus  the 
Romans  received  the  gi^eatest  overthrow  that  they  had 
suffered  since  the  defeat  of  Crassus.     When  the  news  of 
this  calamity  was  brought  to  Rome,  everybody  expected 
that  the  Germans  would  immediately  cross  the  Rhme, 
and  advance  against  the  city.     Augustus,  though  over- 
whelmed with  sorrow,  made  every  exertion  to  allay  the 
general  consternation:  he  sent  his  son-in-law  and  heir, 
Tiberius,  to  guard  the  Rhine;  but  he  prohibited  him 
from  following  the  wild  tribes  to  their  fastnesses.     For 
several  months  the  emperor  abandoned  himself  to  tran- 
sports of  gi-ief,  during  which  he  frequently  exclaimed, 
"Varus,  Varus,  restore  me  my  legions!"  and  he  observed 
the  fatal  day  as  a  moui-nful  solemnity  until  his  death. 

In  order  to  meet  the  more  extensive  incui-sions  of  the 
Germans,  which  were  now  expected  as  certain,  consequent 
upon  this  victory,  Tiberius  was  hastily  despatched  to  the 
Rhine  with  a  mpidly  collected  army;  to  his  astonishment, 
however,  he  found  everything  quiet.  The  Germans  did 
not  desii-e  conquest,  they  wished  only  to  protect  their 
freedom,  and  according  to  the  very  nature  of  their  alliance, 
after  the  danger  was  removed,  each  returned  to  his  home. 
Tiberius  held  the  vacillating  Gaul  in  obedience,  and 
passed  again  across  the  Rhine ;  and,  as  in  a  few  years 
afterwards  he  succeeded  Augustus  in  the  empire,  ho 
transferred  to  his  nephew,  Germanicud,  the  management 
of  the  war  against  the  Germans. 

The  news  of  the  death  of  Augustus  roused  a  mutiny 


among  the  legions  in  Pannonia,  which  was  quelled  by 
Drusus,  the  son  of  Tiberius.  The  armies  on  the  Rhine 
under  G^rmanicus  showed  a  disposition  to  reject  Tiberius, 
and  a  mutinous  spirit;  and  if  Germanicus  had  been  in- 
clined to  try  the  fortunes  of  a  campaign,  he  might  have 
had  the  assistance  of  the  German  armies  against  his 
uncle.  But  Germanicus  restored  discipline  to  the  army 
by  his  firmness,  and  maintained  his  fidelity  to  the  new 
emperor.  He  made  three  campaigns  against  the  Germans, 
defeated  Arminius,  and  retook  a  Roman  eagle  from  the 
Marses,  which  they  had  kept  since  the  defeat  of  Varus. 
Recalled  to  Rome,  Germanicus  led  back  the  greatest 
j^oiiiion  of  his  warriors  by  water,  down  the  Ems  to  the 
North  Sea.  But  a  tremendous  storm  overtook  his  fleet, 
destroyed  a  multitude  of  his  vessels,  and  dispersed  them 
on  the  coasts  of  Britain.  Thus  did  the  German  hero 
Arminius,  equally  great  in  victory  or  doubtful  battle, 
behold  his  country  freed  from  the  danger  of  a  foreign 
yoke.  Henceforth,  the  Romans  thought  no  more  of 
subduing  Germany,  but  applied  themselves  solely  to  the 
means  of  securing  their  frontiei^s  from  the  incursions  of 
the  Geiman  tribes. 

The  Germans  were  also  prevented  from  making  any 
serious  attempts  against  the  Romans  by  the  internal  wars 
which  distracted  them  for  many  years.  They  again 
attacked  the  Roman  Empire  under  Domitian,  Nerva, 
and  Trajan ;  the  last  of  whom  entirely  defeated  them. 
From  this  time  their  attacks  on  the  Roman  empire  became 
more  frequent  and  more  formidable,  and  their  history 
becomes  blended  with  that  of  the  decline  of  the  Roman 
empire,  on  the  ruins  of  which  they  established  several 
new  states.  These  states,  though  often  at  war  with  each 
other,  and  differing  in  smaller  matters,  chiefly  arising 
from  difference  of  soil  and  climate,  were  united  in  one 
ftimilar  system  of  policy  and  domestic  government,  and 
had  those  common  habits  strengthened  by  the  providential 
introduction  of  the  Christian  religion,  to  which,  though 
varying  in  some  points  of  faith,  they  all  in  process  of  time 
professed  adherence^ 


20 


HISTORY    OF   GERMANY. 


A  series  of  emigmtions  which  revolutionised  Europe 
now  began  from  the  Frozen  Ocean,  extended  themselves 
to  the  Atlantic  Sea,  and  stretched  over  a  portion  of 
Northern  Africa.  They  continued  from  the  year  375, 
when  the  Huns  first  broke  into  Europe,  till  5G8,  when 
the  Lombards  had  completed  theii*  conquest  of  the  Koman 
empire. 

When,  in  the  year  of  our  Lord  395,  the  Roman  empire 
was  divided  between  the  two  sons  of  Theodosius,  Arcadiua 
had  the  empire  of  the  East,  and  reigned  at  Constantinople; 
Honorius  that  of  the  West,  and  reigned  in  Italy.  The 
children  of  Theodosius  were  far  from  resembling  their 
father:  too  indolent  to  exercise  authority  of  themselves, 
they  abandoned  it  to  their  chancellors,  Rufinus  and 
Stilicho,  the  one  a  Gaul,  the  other  a  Vandal.  Rufinus  at 
Constantinople  was  the  declared  enemy  of  Stilicho,  who 
governed  in  Italy;  and,  to  cause  him  embarrassment,  he 
invited  the  young  king  of  the  Visigoths,  Alaric,  to  quit 
the  shores  of  the  Danube  and  pass  into  Italy.  Alaric 
did  not  march  directly  upon  Italy,  but  deviated  somewhat 
by  shaping  his  course  towards  Greece,  then  defenceless, 
and  despoiled  it  of  the  remains  of  its  riches  and  the 
monuments  of  its  grandeur.  In  that  interval,  Rufinus 
himself  succumbed  to  the  machinations  of  Stilicho;  but 
for  all  that  the  Goths  did  not  abandon  their  projects 
against  Italy,  and  they  passed  the  Alps  in  402.  Stilicho, 
however,  succeeded  in  inducing  them  to  re-cross  the 
mountains,  either  by  treating  with  them,  or  by  opposing 
to  them  a  resistance  too  formidable.  He  even  saved 
Italy  a  second  time  in  405,  when  Radagaise,  at  the  head 
of  a  powerful  army  of  Germans,  acting  probably  in  concert 
with  Alaric,  threatened  to  pass  the  Alps  at  another 
point.  The  history  of  this  period  is  so  confused  that  it 
lias  not  been  clearly  proved  whether  that  mass  of  people 
was  exterminated  at  Fcesuloe  {Fiesoli)y  as  some  writer 
relate,  or  whether  Stilicho  had  the  address  to  divert  them 
from  their  object  by  treaties,  pointing  to  the  not  far 
distant  Gaul  as  their  prey.  But  that  which  remains 
incontestable  is  the  fact  that  Stilicho  was  put  to  death  in 


PROM   THE    MOST   ANCIENT   TIMES. 


21 


408,  the  weak  emperor  having  been  persuaded  that  his 
minister  had  meditated  placing  the  imperial  crown  on  the 
head  of  his  own  son  Eucharius. 

So  soon  as  Alaric  had  learned  the  death  of  Stilicho,  he 
returned  to  Italy,  forced  the  passage  of  the  Alps,  crossed 
the  Po,  and  marched  straight  upon  Rome,  leaving  the 
feeble  Honorius,  whom  he  despised,  shut  up  in  Ravenna. 
At  his  summons  to  surrender,  terror  and  confusion  spread 
through  "the  eternal  city,"  which,  for  600  years,  had 
never  seen  an  enemy  at  its  gates,  nor  for  800  yeare  a  foe 
within  its  walls.  Even  then  the  Romans  addressed 
Alaric  in  terms  characteristic  of  their  ancient  pride: 
*'  We  are  still  numerous,  and  fear  not  war,"  said  they, 
threateningly.  To  which  Alaric,  with  a  bui-st  of  derisive 
laughter,  replied :  "  Come  out  then ;  the  thicker  the  gi'ass, 
the  more  easily  it  is  mown."  Upon  this  the  Roman 
envoys  sued  for  peace,  but  Alaric  replied  that  the  only 
conditions  on  which  he  would  spare  the  city  were,  that 
he  should  receive  5000  pounds  weight  of  gold,  30,000 
pounds  of  silver,  all  the  provisions,  and  all  the  slaves  of 
German  origin  in  the  city.  Seeing  no  hope  of  safety 
other  than  by  submitting  to  the  will  of  the  Gothic  king,  the 
Romans  at  length  complied  with  his  demands.  Where- 
upon Alaric  marched  upon  Ravenna;  but  as  Honorius 
would  not  come  to  any  undei*standing  with  him,  and  the 
city  proved  impregnable,  the  latter  returned  to  Rome, 
upon  which  he  imposed  another  emperor,  named  Attalus, 
in  opposition  to  Honorius. 

The  new  emperor,  however,  having  shown  himself  little 
worthy  of  his  position,  Alaric  returned  a  third  time,  a 
year  afterwards,  in  order  to  hurl  him  into  the  dust  from 
which  he  had  drawn  him,  and  took  Rome  by  assault  in 
the  night  of  the  23rd  of  August  410.  It  was  fortunate 
for  the  Romans  that  the  Goths  were  Christians,  for  all 
those  who  sought  an  asylum  in  the  churches  were  spared ; 
and,  contrary  to  the  anticipations  of  the  conquered,  the 
victors  acted  with  such  modemtion  that  they  refrained 
from  setting  the  city  on  fire. 

Alaric  remained  only  six  days  in  Rome,  and  then  set 


iJtSfOilV    01*   GERMANY. 


out  for  the  south  of  Italy  with  splendid  projects  in  his 
mind,  pui-posing  to  pass  into  Sicily,  and  thence  attempt 
the  conquest  of  Africa,  then  the  gi-anary  of  Italy,  when 
death  suddenly  arrested  him  at  Cosenza,  in  the  thii*ty- 
second  year  of  his  age.  All  his  people  lamented  his  loss, 
and  a  tomb  was  prepared  for  him  worthy  of  his  memory. 
The  watei-s  of  the  river  Butento  were  divei*ted  from  their 
channel;  then  a  hole  being  dug  in  the  middle  of  its  bed, 
the  Goths  therein  laid  the  body  of  their  king  full  equipped, 
with  his  war-horse  and  the  troi)hies  of  his  glory;  and 
afterwards  brought  back  the  stream  to  its  wonted  coui*se, 
in  order  that  the  avarice  of  the  Romans,  and  the  hatred 
which  they  bore  to  his  name,  might  not  concur  to  j)ro- 
fiine  the  tomb  wherein  the  gi-eat  Alaric  rested  after  his 
victories. 

The  Germanic  barbarians  had  long  threatened  the 
frontiers  of  Gaul,  and  at  the  commencement  of  the  fifth 
century  they  rushed  over  them.  On  the  25th  Dec.  406, 
the  Suevi,  Alains,  Quades,  Yandals,  and  Burgundians 
crossed  the  Rhine.  Driven  back,  after  two  years  of 
frightful  ravages,  towards  the  Pyrenees,  they  passed  into 
Spain.  The  Burgimdians  alone  remained  in  Gaul,  where 
they  founded,  in  the  valley  of  the  Saone,  the  kingdom  of 
Burgundy  (413). 

The  Visigoths,  whom  Alaric  had  brought  from  the 
banks  of  the  Danube  into  Italy,  were  led,  after  the  death 
of  that  daring  wan^ior,  by  his  brother-in-law,  Ataulf,  into 
southeni  Gaul.  That  barbarian  chief,  converting  himself 
into  a  Roman  as  far  as  he  could,  set  himself  to  repair  the 
ruin  heaped  up  on  all  sides  by  his  countiymen,  and  was, 
by  a  treaty  with  Honorius,  put  in  possession  of  Aquitaine. 
He  married  Placidia,  the  emperor's  sister,  overthrew 
two  usurpers  who  had  assumed  the  purple  in  Gaul,  and 
began,  to  the  profit  of  the  empire,  the  conquest  of  Spain 
over  the  Suevi  and  Alains.  But  lie  was  assassinated  at 
Barcelona  (415),  and  his  successor,  Wallia,  less  disinte- 
rested, continued  that  war  for  his  own  advantage.  The 
Visigoths,  mastei-s  of  Aquitaine  as  far  as  the  Loire,  and 
of  the  largest  portion  of  Si)ain,  then  i)ossessed  an  empire 


FROM  THE    MOST  AXCIENT  I'tMES. 


1 

23 


Ml 


I  i 


\vhich  seemed  to  promise  a  long  duration,  and  of  Avhich 
Toulouse  was  the  capital  (419). 

Almost  all  the  Germanic  people  sent  forth  millions  of 
warriors  eager  for  pillage  and  conquest;  or,  it  might  be,  ^ 
themselves  hai*assed  by  the  attacks  of  other  races  more 
powerful,  they  rose  up  in  mass  to  seek  out  another 
country,  sword  in  hand.  The  more  feeble,  those  who 
could  not,  or  would  not,  quit  their  native  land,  almost 
always  remained  alone,  or  found  themselves  confounded 
with  the  invading  people.  Thus,  at  the  beginning  of  the 
fifth  centxiry,  Europe  was  throughout  overrun  by  the  tide 
of  barbarian  migrations. 

Gemiany,  therefore,  prior  to  the  Frank  monarchy, 
exhibits  a  pei7)etual  succession  of  vicissitudes.  As  we 
descend  the  stream  of  time,  from  the  invasion  by  Caesar 
to  the  reign  of  Honorius,  we  find  new  nations,  or  at  least 
new  denominations  of  such,  as  previously  existed;  and 
the  boundaries,  or  the  location  of  each,  to  be  ever  chang- 
injr.  At  one  time  we  read  of  a  number  of  tribes  located 
on  the  banks  of  the  Elbe,  or  the  Rhine,  or  of  the  Danube; 
in  the  I'e volution  of  two  or  three  centuries,  we  perceive 
names  totally  different  occupjdng  the  same  regions.  The 
location  of  these  confederations  at  the  opening  of  the 
fifth  century  must  be  understood,  or  little  idea  can  be 
formed  of  the  establishment  of  the  Frank  monarchy : — 
1.  Between  the  mouths  of  the  Elbe  and  the  Meuse,  along 
the  sea  coast,  yet  extending  inwards  towards  the  Rhine, 
were  the  Franks — not  perhaps  the  most  numerous,  or  the 
most  formidable,  but,  beyond  doubt,  the  most  remarkable 
of  the  Germanic  associations.  Sometimes  the  enemies, 
more  recently  the  allies  of  the  empire,  they  were  always 
treated  with  consideration.  2.  The  Alamanni,  a  similar 
confederation  of  tribes,  occupied  the  eastern  bank  of  the 
Rhine.  3.  In  an  obscure  angle  north  of  the  Elbe,  com- 
prising chiefly  the  duchy  of  Bremen  and  part  of  Holstein, 
the  fSaxo7is,  in  the  fourth  century,  appeared  little  formid- 
able to  their  neighbours;  yet  in  another  we  find  them 
stretched  considembly  into  the  present  kingdoms  of 
Saxony  and  Hanover.     They  could  not,  however,  be  of 


24 


HISTORY    OF   GERMAKY. 


that  nation  alone,  who,  in  the  fifth  eentiiiy,  sufficed  to 
conquer  England;  associated,  or  at  least  acting  simultane- 
ously with  them,  were  the  Jutes,  the  Frisians,  and  other 
tribes.     This  expatriation  of  so  many  thousand  adven- 
turers did  not  much  affect  the  amount  of  population  left 
behind;  for  the  extension  of  the  Saxon  frontier  continued 
to  be  progressive  until  they  bordered  on  the  Fi-anks  and 
bwabians.     4.  Along  the  southern  coasts  of  the  Baltic, 
comprehending  the  maritime  tmcts  of  Mecklenburrr  and 
Pomemnia  as  far  as  the  Oder,  lay  the  Vcmdale.     5.  East- 
ward still,  to  the  banks  of  the  Vistula,  were  the  Goths, 
generally  in  alliance  witli  the  Vandals.     Of  this  great 
stock  were  the  Burgundians,  who,  as  their  name  implies, 
dwelt  m  cities  situated  on  the  confines  of  Germany  and 
Poland;  the  Ileimli,  who  lay  towanls  the  Palus  Mceotis: 
the  Lombards,  who  occupied  the  region  l>etween  the  two 
comprising  the  northern   parts  of  Pannonia;   and   thJ 
Gepidce,  who  extended  farther  into  that  province.     Such 
were  the  Teutonic  tribes,  who,  at  the  i>eriod  in  question, 
hovered  on   the   Eoman  frontiers.      G.  In  the   central 
parts  of  Germany,  extending  from  the  Mein  to  the  Hartz 
forest,  we  perceive  the  Thuringians,  evidently  compose(J 
like  the  rest  of  several  tribes  belonging  to  the  great 
Teutonic  family.      7.  Besides  these  nations  were  some 
tiibes  of  Sclavonic  descent,  inhabiting  Monnia,  Misnia, 
Bohemia,  Lusatia,  and  part  of  Mecklenburg.     Were  these 
tribes  the  tributaries  or  the  allies  of  the  Teutones?     Were 
they  now  located  in  these  regions  for  the  first  time,  or 
had  they  long  been  here?     These  questions  cannot'  be 
answered.     One  thing  is  certain,  that,  when  in  danger  of 
being  expelled  by  their  neighbours,  they  invoked  with 
success  the  succour  of  their  Polish  or  Pannonian  kindred. 
The  changes  effected  in  the  location  of  these  tribes  by 
the  invasion  of  the  Roman  emi)ire,  were  in  some  respects 
gi-eater,  in  others  less,  than  we  might  have  expected.     On 
the  one  side,  the  Heruli  and  the  Lombards  penetrated 
into  Italy ;  the  Suevi,  the  Alains,  and  the  Vandals  tra- 
vei-sed   Gaul  and  passed  into  Spain;    the   Burgundians 
settled  in   the   eastern   province  of  Gaul;   the   Franks 


FROM   THE    MOST   ANCIEXT   TIMES. 


25 


extended  themselves  from  the  Bhine,  throughout  the 
Netherlands,  to  the  frontiers  of  that  monarchy.  These 
changes  enabled  the  Saxons,  as  we  have  before  intimated, 
to  extend  themselves  farther  into  the  interior;  and  the 
Alamanni,  who  were  joined  by  a  considerable  body  of 
the  Suevi,  to  spread  themselves  partially  into  Helvetia, 
Bhetia,  and  Vindelicia.  From  this  period  the  united 
people  are  distinguished  as  Swabians;  and  the  country 
now  seized  by  the  Boii  became  known  as  Bavaria.  The 
Thuringians,  by  the  movement  of  the  Franks,  extended 
their  frontier  to  the  east  bank  of  the  Bhine;  but  north 
of  Cologne,  that  noble  river  was  still  possessed  by  the 
Franks.  The  subsequent  departure  of  the  Goths  into 
Italy  and  Spain  enabled  the  nations  of  Sclavonic  descent 
to  spread  themselves  farther  into  Brandenburg,  Bohemia, 
and  towards  the  Italian  frontiers. 

The  Vandals,  who,  with  the  Alains,  had  established 
themselves  in  the  south  of  Spain,  summoned  to  Africa  by 
the  Boman  general,  Boniface,  who  commanded  there,  and 
was  burning  to  avenge  himself  on  the  emperor,  passed 
over  thither  in  420,  under  the  leadership  of  their  king, 
Geiseric  or  Genseric,  effected  the  conquest  of  all  the 
northern  coast,  and  founded  a  flourishing  kingdom,  which 
lasted  for  a  century,  of  which  Carthage  was  the  capital. 
Such  was  the  adventurous  course  of  a  people  whom  history 
fii^t  finds  on  the  shores  of  the  Baltic,  and  traces  to  the 
confines  of  the  African  deserts. 

Genseric,  one  of  the  most  vigorous  spirits  of  his  time, 
but  otherwise  a  true  barbarian,  reigned  during  50  years 
— from  428  to  477.  After  his  death  his  empire  fell  into 
decadence,  partly  through  intestine  divisions,  and  partly 
through  the  enervation  of  its  people,  formerly  so  robust, 
caused  by  indulgence  in  vohq^tuous  pleasures  under  that 
delicious  climate.  In  553,  Justinian,  emperor  of  Con- 
stantinople, sent  Belisarius  into  Africa  to  profit  by  these 
circumstances;  and  the  latter  in  eight  months  subdued 
the  Vandals,  and  brought  their  last  king,  Gelimer,  loaded 
with  chains,  to  gmce  his  triumph  at  Constantinople. 

The  Suevi  who  had  remained  in  Spain,  more  and  more 


2G 


HISTORY    OP   GERMAXV 


harassed  by  the  Visigoths  under  Wallia  and  his  successoi-s, 
soon  found  themselves  driven  back  to  the  north-west  of 
Spain  and  of  Portugal,  and  in  the  end  confounded  with 
tliat  people,  585.     It  was  also  in  the  fifth  century  (449), 
that  the  Angles,  Saxons,  and  Jutes  landed  in  England 
and  founded  different  kingdoms.      Since   the  reign   of 
Honorius  the  Romans  had  entirely  abandoned  Britain, 
finding  themselves  too  feeble  to  protect  an  island  so  dis- 
tant;   on  the  other  hand,  the  Britons  had  become  so 
effeminate  under  the  Roman  domination  that,  when  left 
to  themselves,  they  were  incapable  of  defending  their 
liberty.     So  that,  continually  tormented  by  the  ravages 
of  the  Picts  and  Scots,  their  northern  neighbours,  they 
found  no  other  means   of  ridding  themselves  of  such 
enemies  save  by  inviting  the  aid  of  foreignei-s.     They 
therefore  addressed  themselves  to  the  Saxons  inhabitin<^ 
the  shores  of  the  North  Sea,  whose  valour  they  had  more 
than  once  proved  when  their  fleets  had  come  to  ravage 
the  coasts  of  Britain.      Two  brothers,   two  heroes  de- 
scended from  Woden,   Hengist  and  Horst  (or  Horsa), 
accepted  tlie  invitation  of  the  Briton  king,  Vorti^ern, 
and  embarked  for  England  with  three  ships  only,  car  °yin^ 
m  all  IGOO  warriors.     But  the  valour  of  their  arms  made 
lip  for  paucity  of  numbers;  they  defeated  the  Picts  at 
Stamford,  and  were  soon  aftenvards  joined  by  a  lam^o 
force  of  their  countrymen.     The  Britons  would  then  have 
fam  rid  themselves  of  their  protectors;  the  Saxons,  on 
the  contrary,  desirous  of  settling  in  the  country,  subdued 
all  England  as  far  as  the  Welsh  borders,  and  formed  the 
seven   kingdoms,  known   by   the   name   of    the   Saxon 
Heptarchy,  of  which  that  of  Kent,  founded  by  Hencrist 
had  the  pre-eminence.  ^^     ' 

From  the  time  of  Julius  Csesar  to  the  fall  of  the  Roman 
empire,  a  period  of  more  than  400  yeai-s,  the  gi-eater  part 
of  the  Germans  were  governed  by  Roman  laws,  and  were 
kept  in  subjection  by  a  military  force,  but  the  wars 
never  entirely  ceased,  and  as  the  power  of  the  Roman 
empire  declined,  the  Gei-mans  gi-adually  recovered  their 
liberty,  and  became  conquerors  in  theii-  turn. 


iTROM   THE    MOST  ANCIENT  TIMES. 


2? 


The  proximity  of  the  Romans  on  the  Rhine,  the 
Danube,  and  the  Neckar,  had  by  degi'ees  eflfected  altera- 
tions in  the  manners  of  the  Germans.  They  had  become 
acquainted  Avith  many  new  things,  both  good  and  bad. 
By  means  of  the  former  they  became  acquainted  with 
money,  and  even  luxuries.  The  Romans  had  planted 
the  vine  on  the  Rhine,  and  constructed  roads,  cities, 
manufactories,  theatres,  fortresses,  temples,  and  altars. 
Roman  merchants  brought  their  wares  to  Germany,  and 
fetched  thence  amber,  feathers,  furs,  slaves,  and  the  very 
hair  of  the  Germans;  for  it  became  the  fashion  to  wear 
light  flaxen  wigs,  instead  of  natural  hair.  Of  the  cities 
which  the  Romans  built  there  are  many  yet  remaining, 
as  Salzburg,  Ratisbonne,  Augsburg,  Basle,  Strasburg, 
Baden,  Spires,  Worms,  Metz,  Treves,  Cologne,  Bonn,  etc. 
But  in  the  interior  of  Germany,  neither  the  Romans  nor 
their  habits  and  manners  had  found  friends,  nor  weie 
cities  built  there  according  to  the  Roman  style. 

During  the  great  movements  of  the  tribes,  the  Franks 
had  not,  like  the  Goths,  Burgundians,  and  other  nations, 
migrated  froni  their  dwellings  to  settle  themselves  else- 
where, but  they  remained  in  theii-  own  seat,  and  from 
thence  conquered  only  that  portion  of  Gaul  which  lies  to 
the  north  of  the  forest  of  Ardennes;  and  this  forest 
sheltered  them  from  being  di-awn  into  the  gi'eat  streams 
of  migration.  Their  division  also  into  several  branches, 
each  of  which  had  its  own  king  or  prince,  prevented  them 
from  making  extensive  and  geneml  expeditions. 

But  their  time  came.  About  the  year  482,  when 
Clovis,  the  son  of  Childeric,  was  lifted  up  on  the  shield 
by  the  Italian  Franks  to  be  their  leader  in  war,  he  soon 
prepared  himself  to  execute  the  plans  of  his  bold  and 
comprehensive  mind,  for  the  bent  of  his  ardent  spiiit  was 
to  make  war  and  conquest.  He  has  sullied  the  celebrity 
of  his  military  fame  by  the  most  despicable  want  of  faith 
to  his  relatives  and  allies.  He  at  first  concluded  with 
the  princes  of  the  Franks,  who  were  his  equals,  and  for 
the  most  part  his  relations,  alliances  of  war  against  other 
tribes,  and  after  he  had  conquered  them  by  their  assist- 


2S 


HISTORY    OF*   GERMANY. 


ance,  and  had  become  powerful,  he  tlien  dospatclied  those 
very  friends  out  of  his  way  by  poison,  the  dagger,  and 
treachery.  By  this  means  he  became  eventually  king  of 
all  the  Franks.  This  people  was  a  union  of  several 
Germanic  tribes :  the  Salians,  Ripuarians,  Sicambri, 
Chamaviri,  etc.,  who  were  seen  for  the  first  time  in  the 
year  240  of  our  era,  along  the  lower  Ehine,  since  which 
time  they  had  not  ceased  to  fight  their  way  across  the 
river,  and  to  seek  to  establish  themselves  in  Gaul.  There- 
in they  succeeded,  and  their  tribes,  passing  over,  each 
with  his  chief  or  king,  had  established  themselves  at 
Cologne,  at  Tournay,  at  Cambray,  and  Terouenne. 

The  First  Known  Frank  Kings.  — Of  these  kings, 
Clodion,  chief  of  the  Salian  Franks,  is  the  first  whose 
existence  is  confirmed  by  positive  facts.      Pharamond, 
who  is  said  to  have  reigned  before  him,  is  only  mentioned 
m  chronicles  of  much  later  date,  and  those  unworthy  of 
faith.     Clodion  took  Toumay  and  Cambi-ay,  put  all  the 
Romans  to  death  whom  he  found  therein,  and,  advancing- 
towards  the  Somme,  arrived  near  Hesdin  (448).     Here 
the  Franks  had  posted  themselves  behind  a  barrier  of 
chariots,  upon  hills  at  the  base  of  which  ran  a  small  river, 
and,  believing  that  the  Romans  were  far  distant,  cele- 
brated the  marriage  of  one  of  their  chiefs.     The  entire 
camp  was  engaged  in  feasting,  altogether  unmindful  of 
keeping  watch,  and  resounded  with  song  and  dance;  while 
above  it   rose  the  smoke  of  huge   fires   at  which   the 
viands  were  being  cooked.     Suddenly  the  Roman  general 
^tius,  then  the  most  formidable  defender  of  the  empire, 
appeared.     His  soldiers  emerged  from  a  pass,  in  close 
files,  and  at  the  double,  along  a  narrow  causeway.     They 
.  crossed   a  wooden  bridge  thrown    over   the  river,   and 
attacked  before  their  enemy  had  had  time  to  form  his  Hnes. 
Behind  the  warriors  who  were  fighting,  othei-s  heaped 
tumultuously  upon  the  chariots  all  the  preparations  for 
the  feast,  the  meats  and  huge  jars  of  beer  wreathed  with 
garlands;  but  the  Franks  being  forced  to  yield  or  flee, 
the  chariots  remained  in  the  hands  of  the  conquerors,  as 
also  the  fiiir  bride.     Clodion  did  not  siu'vive  his  defeat. 


THE    FIRST   KNOWN   FRANK   KINGS. 


20 


Meroveus,  a  kinsman  of  Clodion,  who  succeeded  him 
as  chief  of  the  Salians,  gave  his  name  to  the  kings  of  the 
first  race.  Three  years  afterwards,  the  Franks  united 
themselves  with  all  the  barbarians  cantoned  in  Gaul,  and 
with  the  rest  of  the  Romans,  to  arrest  the  formidable 
invasion  of  the  Huns  under  Attila.  These  Huns,  a 
Mongol  race,  had  migrated  from  the  centre  of  Asia  west- 
ward three-quarters  of  a  century  previously  (a.d.  375), 
carrying  death  and  devastation  on  their  path.  They  had 
nothing  in  common  with  the  peoples  of  the  West,  either 
in  facial  features  or  habits  of  life.  Contemporary  his- 
torians describe  them  as  surpassing  by  their  savageiy  all 
that  can  be  imagined.  They  were  of  low  stature,  with 
broad  shoulders,  thick-set  limbs,  flat  noses,  high  cheek- 
bones, small  eyes  deeply  sunk  in  the  sockets,  and  yellow 
complexion.  Ammianus  Marcellinus  compares  them,  in 
their  monstrous  ugliness,  to  beasts  walking  on  two  legs, 
or  the  grinning  heads  clumsily  carved  on  the  posts  of 
bridges.  They  had  no  beard,  because  from  infancy  their 
faces  were  hideously  scarred  by  being  slashed  all  over,  in 
order  to  hinder  its  growth.  Accustomed  to  lead  a  wan- 
dering life  in  their  native  country,  these  wild  hordes 
traversed  the  Step^^es,  or  boundless  plains  which  lie 
between  Russia  and  China,  in  huge  chariots,  or  on  small 
hardy  horses,  changing  their  stations  as  often  as  fresh 
l)asture  was  required  for  their  cattle.  Except  constrained 
by  necessity,  they  never  entered  any  kind  of  house,  hold- 
ing them  in  hoiror  as  so  many  tombs.  They  were  accus- 
tomed from  infancy  to  endure  cold,  hunger,  and  thirst. 
As  the  gi'eat  boots  they  wore  deprived  them  of  all  facility 
in  marching,  they  never  fought  on  foot;  but  the  skill  with 
which  they  managed  their  horses  and  threw  the  javelin, 
made  them  more  formidable  to  the  Germans  than  even 
the  disciplined,  but  less  ferocious,  legionaries  of  Rome. 

This  was  the  rude  race  which,  bursting  into  Europe  in 
the  second  half  of  the  fourth  century,  shook  the  whole 
l)arbarian  world  to  its  centre,  and  precipitated  it  upon 
the  Roman  empire.  The  Goths  fled  before  them,  when 
they  passed  the  Danube,  the  Yandals  when  they  crossed 


30 


HISTORY   OP   GERMANY. 


theRhme.     After  a  halt  of  half  a  century  in  the  centre 
of  Europe  the  Huns  put  themselves  again  in  motion. 

Attila,  the  king  of  this  people,  constrained  all  the 
tribes  wandering  between  the  Rhine  and  the  Oural  to 
ollow  him.     For  some  time  he  hesitated  upon  which  of 
the  two  empires  he  should  carry  the  wrath  of  heaven. 
Deciding  upon  the  West,  he  passed  the  Rhine,  the  Moselle, 
and  the  Seine  and  marched  upon  Orleans.     The  popul 
lations  fled  before  him  in  indescribable  terror,  for  the 
Uoitrge  of  God,  as  he  was  called,  left  not  one  stone  upon 
another  wheresoever  he  passed.     Metz  and  twenty  other 
cities  had  been  destroyed :  Troyes  alone  had  been  saved 
by  its  bishop  Saint  Loup.      He  wished   to  seize  upon 
Orleans,  the  key  of  the  southern  provinces ;    and   hi? 
innumerable  army  surrounded  the  city.     Its  bishop,  St. 
Aignan  sustained  the  courage  of  the  inhabitants  by  pro- 
mismg  them  a  poweiful  succour,     ^tius,  in  fact,  arrived 
with  all  the  bai-barian  nations  encamped  in  Gaul,  at  the 
expense  of  which  the  new  invasion  was  made.     Attila 
for  the  first  time  fell  back;  but  in  order  to  choose  a  battle- 
idd  favourable  for  his  cavalry,  he  halted  in  the  Cata- 
launian  plains  near  M^ry-sur-Seine.     There  the  terrible 
shock  of  battle  took  place.     In  the  first  onset  the  Franks 
who  formed  the  vanguard  of  ^tius,  fought  with  such 
animosity  that  15,000  Huns  strewed  the  plain.    But  next 
clay,  ^^^i^en  the  great  masses  on  both  sides  encountered,  the 
bodies  of  165,000  combatants  were  left  on  that  field  of 
carnage.     Attila  was  conquered.      The  allies,  however, 
not  danng  to  drive  the  wild  Huns  to  despair,  sufiered 
Attila  to  retreat  into  Germany  (451).     In  the  year  fol- 
^wmg  he  made  amends  for  his  defeat  by  an  invksion  of 
Northern   Italy    ravaging   Aquileia,    Milan,  and   other 
cities  m  a  frightful  manner,  but  died  soon  after  his  return 
from  an  apoplectic  stroke  (453),  and  his  empire  fell  with 
ium,  but  not  the  terrible  remembrance  of  his  name  and 
of  his  cruelties.     The  Visigoths,  whose  king  had  perished 
m  the  fight,  and  the  Franks  of  Meroveus,  had  h^rl  witu 
^tius,  the  chief  honour  of  that  memomble  day  in  the 
Catiilaunian  plams.    For  it  had  become  a  question  whether 


CHAOS    IN   GAUL. 


31 


Europe  should  be  German  or  Mongolian;  whether  the  for- 
midable king  of  the  Huns*  or  the  German  race  should 
found  a  new  empire  on  the  ruins  of  that  which  was  then 
crumbling  in  pieces. 

Meroveus  had  for  successor,  in  456,  his  son  Childeric. 
The  Franks,  whom  he  irritated  by  his  luxury,  drove  him 
into  exile,  and  took  in  his  place,  as  their  chief,  the  Roman 
general  ^gidius.  Little  more  is  known  of  Childeric  than 
the  circumstances  of  his  exile  and  of  his  return.  He  died 
in  481,  and  was  buried  at  Tournay.  His  son  Clovis,  by 
Basine,  queen  of  Thuringia,  became  the  true  founder  of 
the  Frank  monarchy. 

Chaos  in  Gaul.— The  fiite  of  the  chief  of  the  Salian 
Franks,  interested  only  an  insignificant  people  located  in 
a  corner  of  Gaul,  where,  after  the  battle  of  ilery  and  the 
great  league  momentarily  formed  against  Attila,  every- 
thing had  for  thirty  years  fallen  back  into  chaos.  The 
em[)ire  of  the  West,  reduced  almost  to  Italy  alone,  was 
dead  in  47 G,  when  Odoacer,  a  soldier  of  fortune  and  chief 
of  the  Heruli,  who  commanded  the  German  mercenaries 
in  the  imperial  service,  wrested  the  sceptre  from  the  feeble 
hands  of  the  youthful  Romulus  Augustulus,  and  founded 
the  fii-st  barbaric  kingdom  in  Italy.  In  Gaul,  this  event 
j>assed  unnoticed,  for  the  Roman  general,  -^gidius,  whom 
Gregory  of  Tours  calls  King  of  the  Romans,  held  the  coun- 
tries between  the  Loire  and  the  Somme,  and  bequeathed 
them  to  his  son  Syagrius.  The  cities  of  Armorica,  between 
the  mouths  of  the  Loire  and  the  Seine,  had  long  since 
constituted  themselves  into  a  federate  state.  The  Franks 
pressed  in  greater  numbers  into  Belgium.  The  Britons, 
harassed  in  their  island  by  the  pirate  Saxons,  went  in 
their  turn  to  pillage  Angers,  near  the  Loire  (465).  One 
of  the  last  emperors  having  ceded  all  the  south  of  Gaul 
to  the  west  of  the  Rhone  to  the  Visigoths,  they  further 
seized  u^^on  Aiies,  Marseilles,  and  Aix,  to  the  left  of 

*  The  Huns  have  left  in  Europe  more  than  one  terrible  remem- 
brance: it  owes  to  them  the  cattle  plague,  which,  since  that  epoch, 
has  established  itself  permanently  in  the  Steppes  of  Southeru 
llussia. 


) 


32 


MISTORY   OF   GERMANY. 


that  river  (^77)      It  was  a  perpetual  rushing  Lackwards 
and  forwards.     The  peoples  clashed  against  and  min-led 
with  one  another   from  north   to   south,   from  east  to 
west:  all  sought  fortune  sword  in  hand.     The  peaceful 
ballo-Koman  cities  reorganised  their  militia,  and  profited 
by  the  universal  disorder  to  armnge  tlieir  secular  quar- 
rels.    Amidst  this  chaos  the  great  voice  of  the  Church 
alone  was  heard  speaking  of  peace   and  order  to  those 
lunous  nien,  and  seen  extending  its  hand  to  protect  the 
feeble.     The  council  of  Aries,  in  452,  interdicted  the 
casting   freedmen  again  into   slavery  for   the  crime  of 
ingratitude  unless  the  same  had  been  juridically  proved. 
The  council  of  Orange  (441)  threatened  with  ecclesias- 
tical  censui-es  him  who  should  attempt  to  cast  back  into 
servitude  those  whom  the  church  had  enfranchised,  and 
forbade  the  deliveiing  up  of  serfs  who  had  sought  refu-e 
in  her  sanctuaries.  ° 

The  religion  of  the  Franks  was  the  rude  and  warlike 
worship  of  Odin,  the  god  of  the  Scandinavians.  They 
be  leved  that  after  death  the  brave  ascended  to  the  Wal- 
lialla  a  palace  constructed  amongst  the  clouds,  and  the 
clelights  of  which  were  continual  combats  interrui)ted  bv 
long  banquets,  when  beer  and  hydromel  circulated  inces- 

Iherefore  the  Fmnks  were  passionately  fond  of  war  as 
the  means  of  becoming  rich  in  this  world,  and  in  the 
other  the  guests  of  the  gods.  Tlie  youngest  and  the  most 
yiolexLt  among  them  sometimes  experienced,  when  fight- 
ing, tits  of  frenzied  ecstacy,  during  which  they  appea'l-ed 
insensible  to  pain,  and  endowed  with  a  power  of  life  per- 
fectly wonderful.  They  stood  erect  and  still  fought  on 
alter  receiving  many  wounds,  the  least  of  which  would 
have  sufficed  to  prostrate  other  men."  We  find  in  the 
JNormans  the  same  warlike  fanaticism. 

Clovis  was  a  perfect  type  of  his  race.  When  first 
chosen  king  of  t^ie  Salian  Franks,  he  possessed  only  a 
few  districts  of  Belgium,  cantoned  about  the  environs  of 
Touniay.  The  army  at  his  disposal  numbered  not  more 
than  lour  to  five  thousand  warriors.     The  first  five  years 


THE   VASE   OP   SOIsaONS. 


33 


of  his  reign  are  involved  in  an  obscurity  which  his  youth 
explains.  At  twenty,  he  proposed  a  warlike  expedition 
to  his  Franks,  associated  therein  Ptagnachaii-e,  king  of 
Cambray,  and  both,  at  the  head  of  five  thousand  warrfors, 
defeated,  near  the  ancient  abbey  of  Nogent,  twelve  leagues 
to  the  north  of  Soissons,  Syagrius,  who  sought  refuge 
amongst  the  Visigoths,  but  was  afterwards  delivered  up 
by  them  to  Clovis  and  put  to  death.  This  commence- 
ment of  his  conquests  took  place  in  486,  ten  years  after 
Romulus  Augustulus  was  deposed. 

The  Vase  of  Soissons.--The  spoil  taken  after  the  vic- 
tory was  considerable.     Saint  Remi,  bishop  of  Rheims, 
who  seems  to  have  early  entertained  amicable  relations 
with  Clovis,  reclaimed  at  the  king's  hands  a  precious  vase 
which  had  been  carried  away  from  one  of  his  churches. 
When  all  the  booty  had  been  placed  in  common,  the 
king,  before  its  division,  said :  "  I  beg  of  you,  my  faithful 
followers,  to  give  me  that  vase,  beyond  my  share."     All 
consented  thereto  except  one  soldier,  who,  dealing  the 
vase  a  blow  with  his  battle-axe,  exclaimed,  ''  You  shall 
have  no  more  than  the  share  allotted  to  you."     The  rest, 
however,  consented  to  the  king's  wish,  who  took  the  half- 
shattered  vase  and  sent  it  to  the  bishop.     The  following 
year,  at  the  muster  of  the  troops  held  annually  in  the 
month  of  March,  Clovis  held  a  review  of  his  army;  and 
when  he  came  before  the  soldier  who  had  struck  the  vase, 
he  said  to  him :  "  No  one  has  his  weapons  so  ill-cared  for 
as  thine."     And  so  saying  he  snatched  them  from  him, 
and  flung  them  on  the  ground.     As  the  man  stooped  to 
pick  them  up  the  king  clove  his  head  with  a  single  blow 
of  his  francisque   (double-edged   axe),  saying,  "  Thus  it 
shall  be  done  unto  thee  as  thou  didst  to  the  vase  a  year 
ago  in  Soissons."      And   Gregory  of  Tours  adds:    "It 
happened  in  a  manner  to  inspire  all  with  a  supreme 
terror."     This  incident,  in  the  first  campaign  of  Clovis, 
strikingly  illustrates  the  manners  of  the  age,  as  well  as 
the  rude  form  of  government  which  prevailed  among  the 
Frankish  tribes,  the  personal  character  of  their  leader, 
and  the  rights,  at  once  illinntable  and  restricted,  of  that 


ll 


L\ 


34 


niSTORY  OP  GERMANY. 


THE   VICTORY  OF  VOULON. 


85 


barbaric  royalty.  Clovis  has  only  his  share  of  the  booty, 
like  the  soldiers,  and  it  is  the  lot  which  has  fallen  to  him; 
at  the  same  time  he  deals  death,  without  trial,  to  avenge 
a  personal  insult,  and  not  a  murmur  is  heard.  Two  con- 
trary ideas  were  evidently  clashing  in  the  brains  of  those 
barbarians:  the  sacred  character  of  royalty,  and  the 
invincible  feeling  of  equality—ideas  that  are  met  with  on 
other  occasions  in  the  course  of  history. 

Marriage  of  Clovis  and  Clotilda  (493).— The  years 
following  upon  the  battle  of  Soissons  were  passed  in 
negotiating  and  fighting  with  the  cities  between  the 
Somme  and  the  Loire.  Clovis  was  especially  desirous  of 
laying  hand  upon  Paris;  but  a  war  with  the  Thuiingians 
which  called  him  beyond  the  Rhine,  and  next  his  mar- 
riage with  Clotilda,  niece  of  Gondeband,  king  of  the  Bur- 
gundians,  gave  another  course  to  events.  Clotilda  was  a 
Christian,  and  she  obtained  from  her  pagan  husband  the 
promise  that  her  first-born  "should  be  consecrated  to 
Christ  by  baptism."  These  were  facts  of  the  highest 
importance.  The  bishops  of  Northern  Gaul,  who  had 
doubtless  brought  about  this  alliance,  ho]ied  for  the 
speedy  conversion  of  the  king  himself;  for  the  cities  of 
Amiens,  Beauvais,  Bouen,  and  Paris,  would  open  their 
gates  to  the  man  who  had  espoused  a  woman  of  their  fiiith. 

Conversion  of  Clovis  (496).— The  Alamanns*  who 
occupied  a  few  cantons  bordering  upon  the  Vosges — lands 
that  had  been  long  devastated,  and  from  which  nothing 
more  could  be  taken— on  seeing  the  Franks  lay  hands  on 
so  many  rich  Boman  cities,  became  possessed  with  a 
desire  to  force  the  latter  to  share  with  them ;  and  there- 
fore crossed  the  Bhine  in  gi'eat  numbera.  The  Franks 
rushed  to  meet  them  with  Clovis  at  their  head.  The 
shock  was  terrible,  and  Clovis  for  a  moment  thought  him- 
self vanquished;   and,  in  his  distress,  throwing  himself 

*  Or  Alemanns,  and  later  called  AUemands.  This  people, 
neighbours  of  the  Franks,  had  doubtless  been  taken  by  them  for 
all  the  nation  which  the  Romans  called  Germans  ;  for  they  gave 
that  name  to  all  the  races  that  dwelt  between  the  Baltic  Sea  and 
the  Danube,  and  from  the  Rhine  to  the  Vistula.  It  would  have 
been  more  correct  to  call  them  Teutches  or  even  Teutons, 


» 


fli 


upon  his  knees,  he  invoked  the  God  of  Clotilda.  One 
more  effort  changed  the  fate  of  the  battle.  The  Ala- 
manns,  driven  beyond  the  Bhine,  were  pursued  as  far  as 
Snabia;  and  the  population  of  that  country,  as  well  as 
the  Bavarians  who  inhabited  the  adjacent  region,  recog- 
nised the  supremacy  of  the  Franks.  So  great  was  the 
success  that  Clovis  considered  himself  obliged  to  keep  his 
word.  Saint  Bemigius  gave  him  baptism,  and  3000  of 
his  chief  followers  received  it  with  him.  In  sprinkling 
the  holy  water  upon  the  head  of  the  neophyte,  the  bishop 
addressed  him  in  these  words:  ** Bow  down  thine  head, 
O  Sicambrian,  and  pray  to  that  which  thou  didst  burn, 
and  burn  that  to  which  thou  didst  formerly  pray." 

The  Victory  of  Voulon  (507). — The  glory,  and  more 
over  the  booty,  which  Clovis  obtained  by  these  successes 
brought  around  him  the  Franks  of  other  tribes.  One 
day,  speaking  to  them  of  the  Visigoths  who  occupied  all 
the  country  from  the  Loire  to  the  Pyrenees,  he  said,  "  It 
displeases  me  that  these  Arians  should  possess  the  best 
portion  of  Gaul.  Let  us  march  against  them  and  gain 
their  country."  The  army  followed  him,  and  conquered 
at  Voulon,  near  Poitiers,  the  Visigoths,  ^\ho  then  only 
preserved  in  Gaul  Septimania  (Nimes,  Beziers,  Narbonne, 
etc).  The  bishops,  whom  the  Arian  Visigoths  and  Bur- 
gundians  oppressed,  applauded  the  success  of  Clovis. 

When  Clovis  marched  into  Tours  after  that  brilliant 
expedition,  he  there  found  the  envoys  of  the  Emperor  of 
the  East.  That  prince,  menaced  at  the  moment  by  the 
Ostrogoths  of  Italy,  was  delighted  at  the  appearance, 
beyond  the  Alps,  of  a  rival  to  their  King  Theodoric;  and 
he  sent  to  the  king  of  the  Franks  the  titles  of  consul  and 
patrician,  with  the  jiurple  tunic  and  chlamys.  "  Then 
Clovis  placed  the  crown  upon  his  head,  and,  having 
mounted  his  horse,  threw  gold  and  silver  amongst  the 
assembled  people."  From  that  day  he  was  called  consul 
or  "  Augustus."  The  remembrance  of  the  Boman  empire 
still  survived.  Those  titles  conferred  by  the  emperor 
seemed  to  give  right  to  him  who  was  only  the  possessor 
of  force.     CloviS;  in  the  eyes  of  the  Gallo-Bomans,  was 


36 


HISTORY  OF   GERMANY. 


no  longer  tlie  barbarian  and  pagan  conqueror,  but  an 
orthodox  prince  and  consul  of  Rome.  :.- 

Unfortunately  the  orthodoxy,  like  the  consulate,  was 
only  a  matter  of  costume;  under  the  chlamys,  as  under 
the  robe  of  the  catechumen,  there  lurked  the  barbarian. 
His  wife,  the  pious  Clotilda,  long  vainly  endeavoured, 
alike  by  her  entreaties  and  her  virtues,  to  bring  him  to 
a  better  sense  of  his  responsibilities  as  a  Christian;  but 
to  prevail  over  his  hard  heart  nothing  availed  save  the 
actual  presence  of  impending  danger.  Thus  it  was  long 
apparent  by  his  conduct,  as  by  that  of  the  Franks,  that 
this  so-called  conversion  was  only  a  work  of  necessity, 
for  after  his  baptism,  as  before  it,  he  caused  his  kinsmen 
to  be  assassinated,  and  overran  the  states  of  Christian 
princes,  one  after  another,  in  his  rage  for  conquest.  So 
that,  several  centuries  later,  the  Franks  were  considered 
to  be  the  most  perfidious  of  tlie  German  peoples. 

In  vain  did  the  sagacious  king  of  the  Ostrogoths,  Tlieo- 
doric,  who  had  just  established  his  sway  in  Italy,  and  had 
married  the  sister  of  Clovis,  Audofleda,  endeavour  to  turn 
that  prince  from  his  unjust  enterprises;  in  vain  did  he 
represent  that  peace  and  union  alone  befitted  Christian 
nations.  All  the  means  that  he  employed  proved  ineffi- 
cacious with  an  ambitious  barbarian  who  rccofjnised  onlv 
the  right  of  the  sword  and  brute  force.  Burgundy,  which 
Clovis  could  not  entirely  subdue,  was  rendered  tributary 
to  him ;  his  old  ally,  Siegebert  of  Cologne,  treacherously 
murdered  at  his  instigation  by  Siegebert's  own  son,  Chlo- 
deric,  and  another  prince  degraded  to  the  condition  of  a 
subject  by  being  shorn  of  the  long  locks  which  were  then 
the  indispensable  ornament  of  royal  heads.  By  these, 
and  similar  unscrupulous  means,  Clovis  became  at  length 
sole  monarch  of  the  Frankish  nation;  which,  increased  as 
it  was  by  his  former  conquests,  now  embraced  the  whole 
of  Gaul,  and  a  considerable  portion  of  Germany.  Clovis 
died  in  511,  aged  forty -five,  having  reigned  thirty  years. 
He  had  at  first  fixed  his  residence  at  Soissons,  and  was 
crowned  at  Kheims;  but,  about  the  middle  of  his  reign, 
he  ti*ansferred  the  seat  of  sovereignty  to  Paris. 


I 


SECOND     PERIOD. 

FROM   THE   CONQUESTS   OF   CLOVIS   TO   CHARLEMAGNE. 

(511-768). 

Division  of  the  Frank  Monarchy  between  the  four 

Sons  of  Clovis. — At  the  death  of  Clovis  the  kingdom  of 
the  Franks  extended  from  the  German  Ocean  to  the  Adour 
and  the  Cevennes;  and  from  the  frontiers  of  Brittany 
to  the  Ehone  and  Saone.  The  Bhine  was  their  boundary 
on  the  north-east.  Burgundy  and  Brittany  had  been 
reduced  to  the  condition  of  tributary  states,  and  were 
bound  to  furnish  a  contingent  to  the  Frank  armies;  but 
Burgundy,  having  for  a  short  time  paid  tribute,  refused 
it  even  during  the  lifetime  of  Clovis.  The  cities  of  Aqui- 
taine,  feebly  kept  in  check  by  the  Frankish  garrisons 
left  in  Bordeaux  and  Saintes,  had  remained  almost  inde- 
pendent. 

By  Clotilda  Clovis  had  four  sons,  Thierry,  Clodomir, 
Childebert,  and  Clotaire,  between  whom  the  kingdom 
was  divided  in  such  wise  that  each  of  them  had  a  portion 
nearly  equal  to  the  tenitory  to  the  north  of  the  Loire, 
where  the  Frank  nation  had  established  itself;  and  also 
part  of  the  Roman  cities  of  Aquitaine  which  paid  rich 
tributes.  Thierry,  the  eldest  son,  became  king  of  Metz, 
with  Cahors  and  Auvergne;  Childebert  king  of  Paris, 
with  Poitiers,  Perigeux,  Saintes,  and  Bordeaux;  Clotaire, 
king  of  Soissons,  with  Limoges;  Clodomii',  king  of 
Orleans,  with  Bourges. 

These  singular  divisions  were  productive  of  quaiTcls, 
which  soon  broke  out;  and  as,  in  consequence  of  these 
divisions,  all  the  provinces  had  become  frontier  provinces, 
there  was  not  one  of  thqm  which  escaped  pillage  and 


38 


HISTORY   OF   GERMANY.  [PERIOD  If. 


^11-7G8.]      CONQUESTS   OP   THE   SONS  OF   CLOVIJ?. 


SO 


devastation.  Tlie  old  hatreds  of  the  Gallic  cities  were 
reawakened ;  and  their  anned  forces  more  than  once 
engaged  in  sanguinary  contests  in  favour  of  the  quarrels 
of  their  several  masters. 

Conquests  of  the  Sons  of  Clovis. — For  some  years  the 
impulsion  of  conquest  given  by  Clovis  continued.  Thierry 
victoriously  repulsed  the  Danes,  who  had  descended  as 
far  as  the  mouths  of  the  Meuse;  and,  in  530,  he  effected 
the  conquest  of  Thuringia.  One  day,  having  assembled 
his  Prankish  chiefs.  King  Thierry  thus  addressed  them  : 
'*  Eemember,  I  pray  you,  that  the  Thuringians  came  to 
attack  your  fathers,  that  they  carried  off  from  them 
everything  which  they  possessed,  suspended  the  children 
to  the  trees  by  the  nerves  of  their  legs;  and  caused  to 
perish  by  a  cruel  death  200  young  girls',  tying  them  by 
the  arm  to  the  necks  of  horses,  whom  they  forced  by 
blows  of  sharp  goads  to  rush  in  diflferent  directions,  so 
that  they  were  torn  asunder.  O there  were  extended  over 
the  wheel-ruts  of  the  roads  and  pinned  to  the  ground  by 
stakes;  then  heavily-laden  chariots  were  driven  over 
them,  and,  their  bones  being  thus  broken,  they  left  them 
to  serve  as  food  for  the  dogs  and  birds."  At  these  words 
the  Franks,  with  one  voice,  demanded  to  be  led  against 
the  Thuringians.  Thierry,  accompanied  by  his  brother 
Clotaire  and  his  son  Theodebert,  made  a  great  massacre 
of  the  Thuringians,  and  reduced  their  country  under  his 
power. 

The  Conquest  of  Burgundy  (534). — Clovis  had  ren- 
dered the  Burgundians  tributary;  but  Clotilda  remained 
unsatisfied,  and  had  long  cherished  vengeance  against  the 
murderers  of  her  father,  the  death  of  Gondebaud,  in  517, 
not  having  yet  appeased  her  hatred.  She  one  day  said 
to  Clodomir  and  her  other  sons,  "  That  I  may  not  repent 
me,  my  dear  children,  of  having  tenderly  nui-tured  you, 
be,  I  pray  you,  indignant  at  my  ^vi'ongs,  and  avenge  the 
death  of  my  father  and  mother."  They  thereupon  marched 
against  the  two  kings  of  Burgundy,  Gondemar  and  Sigis- 
mond.  The  latter  had  recently  stmngled  his  son  whilst 
he  slept.     The  Burgundians  were  defeated,  and  Sigis- 


mond  taken.  Clodomir  had  him  flung  into  a  well,  to- 
gether with  his  wife  and  remaining  son.  But  one  day, 
whilst  pui-suing  too  eagerly  the  enemy,  he  was  himself 
surrounded  and  slain  at  Veseronce,  near  Vienne  (524). 

The  conquest  of  Burgundy  was  deferred  by  that  death; 
but,  in  532,  Clotaire  and  Childebert  prepared  another 
expedition,  and  invited  their  brother  Thierry  to  march 
with  them.  The  king  of  Austrasia  refused.  "  If  thou 
wilt  not  go  into  Burgundy  with  thy  brothers,"  said  his 
chiefs  (leudes)  to  him,  "we  will  quit  thee,  and  follow 
them  in  thy  place."  Thierry  had  another  expedition  in 
view;  the  people  of  Auvergne  had  tried  to  withdraw 
themselves  from  his  domination,  and  then  give  them- 
selves to  Childebert,  he  therefore  desired  to  punish  them. 
"  Follow  me  into  Auvergne,"  said  he  to  his  chiefs,  "  I 
will  lead  you  into  a  country  where  you  will  find  gold 
and  silver  as  much  as  you  may  desii-e,  and  whence  you 
can  carry  away  flocks  and  herds,  slaves  and  vestments 
in  abundance.  Only  do  not  follow  those  men."  Clotaii-e 
and  Childebert  marched  therefore  alone  into  Burgundy, 
besieged  Autun,  and  having  put  Gondemar  to  flight, 
occupied  all  the  country  (534).  Meanwhile,  Thierry  kept 
his  word  with  his  chiefs,  he  abandoned  Auvergne  to 
them,  which  was  frightfully  devastated. 

War  against  the  Visigoths  and  Ostrogoths— Ex- 
peditions beyond  the  Alps  and  the  Pyrenees.— The 
king  of  the  Ostrogoths,  the  victorious  invader  of  Italy, 
Theodoric,  having  overcome  Odoacer  at  Aquileia  and 
Verona,  erected,  in  493,  a  mighty  sovereignty,  called  the 
Empire  of  the  Ostrogoths,  which  extended  northwards  as 
far  as  the  Ehine  and  Danube,  and  eastwards  to  the 
borders  of  Macedonia  and  Dacia.  During  a  peace  of 
thirty  years,  he  promoted  the  useful  arts,  agriculture  and 
trade,  and  even  attempted  the  arduous  task  of  draining 
the  Pontine  marshes,  a  labour  which  he  personally  in- 
spected from  a  high  tower  near  Terracina.  Notwith- 
standing his  marriage  with  the  sister  of  Clovis,  the  feud 
between  the  Goths  and  Franks  continued  to  rage  as 
violently  as  ever,  until  at  length  Clovis,  who  had  in- 


40 


fliStOKY  OP  GERMANY.  [PERIOD  11. 


511-768.]    DIVISION  OF   THE   FRANKISH  KINGDOM. 


41 


vaded  tlie  empire  of  the  Visigoths  and  slain  their  king, 
was  arrested  in  his  successful  career  by  Theodoric,  and 
compelled  to  disgorge  the  province  of  Languedoc.  In 
523,  Theodoric  also  swept  away  the  Valais  from  the 
Burgundians,  and  the  Eouergue,  the  Vivamis,  and  the 
Velay  from  the  Franks.  But  he  died  in  526,  and  the 
Franks  then  taking  the  oftensive,  ravaged  the  whole  of 
Septimania  (531.)  That  province  remained,  nevei-theless, 
to  the  Visigoths  for  two  centuries;  and  it  will  be  seen 
that  by  that  gate  of  the  Pyrenees  it  was  that  the  Arabs 
were  able  to  enter  the  territories  of  the  Franks.  In  533 
the  Austrasians  retook  the  Rouergue,  the  Velay,  and  the 
Gevaudan.  Three  years  after,  Vitigis,  king  of  the  Ostro- 
goths, ceded  Provence  to  the  Franks  in  order  to  obtain 
their  alliance  against  the  Greeks.  Theodebert,  there- 
upon, who  succeeded  in  534  to  Thieriy,  his  father,  in 
the  royalty  of  Austrasia,  led  a  numerous  army  into 
Italy,  beat  the  Goths  who  had  subsidised  his  troops,  the 
Greeks  who  had  summoned  him,  and  then  ravaged  the 
country  at  his  pleasure. 

Sickness  decimated  his  army.  But  the  barbarians 
counted  not  their  dead,  they  only  reckoned  their  booty. 
That  which  Theodebert  brought  back  was  so  considerable, 
that  Childebert  and  Clotaire,  in  order  to  keep  their  chiefs 
(leucles)  faithful  to  their  standards,  were  obliged  to  pro- 
mise them  one  equally  rich  in  Spain.  They  passed  the 
Pyrenees  and  took  Pampeluna.  But  Saragossa  arrested 
them,  and  they  were  beaten  on  theii-  retreat.  They  next 
compelled  the  Alamanns  of  Ehetia  and  the  Bavarians  to 
recognise  their  sovereignty,  and  even  the  Saxons  sub- 
mitted to  pay  them  tribute. 

Clotaire  sole  King  (558-5G1)— Ferocity  of  Manners- 
Violent  Deaths  of  almost  all  the  Frank  Princes.—That 
power  fell,  in  558,  into  the  hands  of  Clotaire  alone. 
Death  or  assassination  had  rid  him  of  his  brothers  and 
their  children.  One  of  them,  Clodomii*,  had  been  killed 
at  the  close  of  a  battle  by  the  Burgundians  in  524.  Of 
the  three  sons  left,  Childebert  and  Clotaire  slew  two  of 
them  with    their   own   hands.      Clodoald,   disdaininr/   a 


IrV  * 


terrestial  kingdom,  devoted  himself  to  heaven,  cut  off 
his  long  locks  with  his  own  hand,  and  became  a  monk. 
He  was  after  death  honoured  with  a  record  in  the  calen- 
dar of  the  church;  and  his  name,  slightly  altered,  sur- 
vives in  the  ruins  of  the  palace  of  Saint  Cloud,  recently 
destroyed  during  the  Franco -Prussian  war.  Clotaire 
reigned  only  three  years  over  the  entire  territory  of 
Clovis.  Chramme,  his  eldest  son,  had  entered  into  some 
plot  against  him  with  Childebert.  His  uncle  dead,  he 
fled  for  refuge  into  Brittany;  thither  his  father  pursued 
him,  defeated  the  Bretons  who  sought  to  protect  him; 
and;  on  his  capture,  caused  him  to  be  fastened  with  his 
wife  and  children  in  a  peasant's  hut,  which  was  set  on 
fire,  and  all  perished  in  the  flames.  Such  were  the 
ferocious  manners  of  that  asfe. 

Clotaire  only  survived  that  son  a  year,  and  his  end 
was  as  fearful  as  his  crimes  had  been  enormous,  for  he 
was  poisoned  by  his  own  son.  He  died  in  his  villa  of 
Compi^gne,  where,  in  the  immense  forest  surrounding, 
he  often  went  to  amuse  himself  with  those  great  hunting 
parties  which  afforded  so  much  pleasure  to  the  early 
Merovingians.  At  the  approach  of  death,  when  in  his 
last  agonies,  that  fierce  barbarian  felt  himself  conquered 
at  last:  "What  is  this  king  of  heaven,"  he  exclaimed, 
"who  thus  causes  to  perish  the  greatest  kings  of  the 
earth]"  He  died  in  561,  having  reigned  fifty  years. 
Under  the  sons  of  Clovis,  the  spirit  of  conquest  still 
animated  the  Franks;  henceforward,  during  a  century 
and  a  half,  there  will  reign  only  the  spirit  of  discord. 

New  Division  of  the  Prankish  Kingdom  (561).— 
Although  the  partition  of  the  monarchy  had  led  to  so 
much  crime,  yet  upon  the  death  of  Clotaire  I.,  it  was 
again  divided  between  his  four  sons,  Charibert,  Gonthram, 
Chilperic,  and  Sigebert,  into  the  several  kingdoms  of 
Paris,  Soissons,  Metz,  and  Burgundy.  The  premature 
death  of  the  king  of  Paris,  Charibert,  reduced  thorn  to 
three  in  567.  This  last  i)artition  had  more  duration 
than  the  preceding,  because  it  responded  to  real  divisions, 
to  distinct  nationalities.      Gonthram  reigned   over   the 


42„ 


HISTORY   OF   GERMANY.  [pEIlIOP  ll. 


Burgunclians,  Sigebert  the  Aiistrasian  or  eastern  Franks, 
and  Chilperio  over  that  mixed  population  of  Franks  and 
Gallo-Romans,  called  Neustrians  or  Westerns.  Of  these 
three  personages,  Gonthram  had  the  least  brilliant,  but 
the  longest  existence;  he  was  destined  to  outlive  the 
sanguinary  catastrophes  of  which  the  two  other  kingdoms 
were  the  theatre. 

Fr^degonde  and  Brunehaut. — These  catastrophes  were 

commenced  by  the  rivalry  of  Fredegonde  and  Brunehaut. 
The  first  of  these  two  celebrated  queens  had  married 
Chilperic,  after  having  incited  him  to  murder  liis  wife, 
Galswinthe ;  the  other,  sister  of  Galswinthe,  had  espoused 
Sigebert.  Excited  by  Bninehaut,  who  burned  to  avenge 
the  death  of  her  sister,  Sigebert  seized  upon  almost  all 
the  teiTitories  of  his  brother.  But  Fredegonde  caused 
him  to  be  assassinated  (575).  From  that  day  her  crimes 
multiplied;  her  husband's  son  was  murdered,  and  Chil- 
peric himself  met  with  the  same  fate  (584);  the  bishop 
Pretextat  was  assassinated  at  Bouen  on  the  steps  of  the 
altar.  On  account  of  the  youth  of  Clotaire  II.,  son  of 
Chilperic  and  Fredegonde,  and  Childebeii;  II.,  son  of 
Sigebert  and  Brunehaut,  the  kingdoms  of  these  princes 
were  governed  by  theii'  two  mothei^;  and  for  many  years 
the  struggle  between  these  bad  women  deluged  the  royal 
houses  with  blood.  At  length,  Brunehaut,  having  shed 
the  blood  of  two  of  her  own  sons,  and  that  of  many  other 
persons,  received  the  reward  of  her  crimes.  On  the  death 
of  Thierry  II.  (613),  Brunehaut  hoped  to  imite  the  Bur- 
gundians  and  Austrasians  against  the  son  of  Fredegonde, 
but  she  was  betrayed  by  her  own  soldiers,  and  given  up 
to  Clotaire  II.,  her  implacable  enemy.  He  reproached 
her  with  the  death  of  ten  kings,  abandoned  her  during 
three  days  to  the  insults  of  his  army,  and  after  parading 
her  on  the  back  of  a  camel  through  his  camp,  tied  her  to 
the  tail  of  a  wild  horse,  which  dragged  her  over  rough 
ground  until  she  was  torn  in  pieces.  The  four  sons  of 
Thierry  II.  had  already  perished  by  assassination,  and 
Clotaire  II.  found  himself,  like  his  gi*andfather  Clotaire 
I.,  sole  king  of  the  Franks  (613).     The  horrible  Fred^- 


511-7G8.] 


CLOTAIRE   II.    SOLE   KING. 


43 


gonde,  his  mother,  escaped  in  this  life  the  punishment 
due  to  her  crimes,  having  died  "  full  of  years  "  in  597. 
State  of  Gaul  in  the  Sixth  Century — Disorders  and 

Darkness  of  the  Age. — Humanity  has  traversed  few 
ejiochs  so  deplorable  as  the  sixth  and  seventh  centuries 
of  our  era.  The  indisci])line,  the  brutal  violence  of  the 
barbarians,  the  absence  of  all  order,  the  reawakening  of 
old  rivalries  of  city  and  city,  of  canton  and  canton,  and 
everywhere,  in  short,  a  sort  of  return  to  a  state  of  primi- 
tive nature;  such  is  the  spectacle  shown  by  the  annals  of 
that  miserable  epoch.  Pillage,  incendiarism,  or  some 
sudden  attack  and  murder  were  ever  to  be  dreaded  by  all. 
Besides  the  evils  caused  by  present  violence,  there  was 
always  i^ei'petual  inquietude  arising  from  the  thought  of 
future  violence,  the  barbarians  making  as  little  scrui)le 
to  forfeit  the  liberty  as  the  possessions  of  the  vanquished. 
Let  us  add,  in  order  to  finish  the  picture  of  those  troublous 
centuries  which  followed  the  break  up  of  the  imperial 
sway  of  Rome,  that  all  culture  of  the  mind  was  arrested, 
that  the  Latin  tongue  was  degraded  in  those  coarse 
mouths,  that  kings  and  chiefs,  and  all  who  were  not  in 
the  cliurch  or  the  municipal  administrations,  no  longer 
troubled  themselves  about  learning  to  read  or  write. 
Civilization  retrograded,  and  seemed  on  the  point  of  dis- 
ai)pearing  altogether  under  the  ruins  heaped  up  by  the 
barbarians. 

Three  Societies  in  Gaul. — When  the  invasion  had 
passed  over  Gaul,  breaking  the  ancient  linl^s,  and  bring- 
ing forth  new  political  and  social  ideas,  as  it  had  brought 
in  new  peoples,  three  societies  were  found  in  presence  of 
each  other,  one  of  which  served  as  a  link  to  the  two 
others;  the  Gallo-Bomans,  the  barbarians,  and  between 
them,  recruiting  itself  from  both,  the  Church. 

Clotaire  IL  kola  King  (613-623);  Constitution  Per- 
petual of  615. — There  had  been,  however,  under  Clotaire 
1 1.,  become  sole  king  after  the  death  of  Brunehaut  and 
the  children  of  Thierry  II.,  a  considerable  effort  made  in 
615  to  organise  that  society  the  disorder  of  which  we 
have  just  described.     Seventy-nine  bishops  assembled  in 


44 


HISTORY   OF   GERMANY. 


PERIOD  11. 


Paris,  together  with  the  chiefs  {leudes)  of  tlie  three  king- 
doms; and  the  king  sanctioned,  by  an  edict  or  perpetual 
constitution,  the  decisions  of  that  assembly.  The  election 
of  bishops  was  reserved  for  the  clergy  and  the  laity  of 
the  dioceses,  the  king  having  only  the  right  to  confirm 
the  election,  after  which  the  metropolitan  conseci-ated  the 
elected;  the  cleric  was  only  legally  responsible  to  his 
bishop;  the  direct  imposts  established  by  Chilperic,  Fr^de- 
gonde,  and  Brunehaut,  were  abolished;  but  the  tolls  upon 
the  roads,  and  the  dues  upon  entering  the  cities,  sub- 
sisted; the  judges  of  counties  were  always  to  be  drawn 
from  amongst  the  landed  proprietors :  a  measure  extremely 
favourable  to  the  aristocracy,  for  the  great  proprietors 
found  thenaselves  invested  with  judicial  power,  which 
then  seemed  to  unite  all  other. 

Barbarian  Laws.— Each  German  tribe  had  its  law. 
That  of  the  Visigoths  and  the  Burgundians  approached 
very  closely  to  the  Boman  code,  under  which  the  clergy 
and  the  Gallo-Bomans  lived.  The  laws  of  the  Alamanns, 
the  Bavarians,  the  Bipuarian,  and  Salian  Franks  are  still 
extant.  Three  piincipal  characteristics  distinguish  them 
from  the  Boman  law.  At  first  they  formed  only  a  penal 
legislation,  that  is  to  say,  they  were  concerned  solely  with 
crimes,  which  implies  a  state  of  society  singularly  violent. 
In  the  second  place,  they  permitted  exemption  from  pun- 
ishment by  money  fines,  by  amends  or  composition  {wehr- 
geld),  the  amount  of  which  differed  principally  accordin^^ 
to  the  condition  of  the  injured  party.  Every  injury,  from 
an  insulting  word  to  murder  itself,  had  its  suitable  pen- 
alty; thus  he  who  stole  a  pig  was  fined  15  shilimgs,  and 
the  murderer  of  a  serf,  35;  but  the  slaughter  of  a  freeman 
could  not  be  expiated  for  a  less  sum  than  300  shillings. 
The  use  of  scurrilous  language  subjected  him  who  used  it 
to  penalties  varying  from  3  to  6  shillings.  The  soUdicSy 
or  shilling,  was  the  price  of  a  cow;  but  it  is,  of  course 
impossible  to  ascertain  its  exact  value  in  English  money. 
The  Salian  Franks  divided  it  into  forty  denmii  or  j^ence, 
and  the  Bipuarii  into  twelve.  If  a  criminal  were  unable 
to  pay  the  fine,  he  swore  that  he  did  not  possess  sufficient 


511-7G8.] 


THE   SALIC   LAW. 


45 


property  either  on  the  earth  or  under  the  earth,  and  made 
over  his  estate  and  debt  to  his  relations  by  taking  a  hand- 
ful of  dust  from  each  of  the  four  corners,  and  throwing  it 
on  them.  He  then  stripped  himself  of  his  under  gar- 
ment, and,  with  a  staff  in  his  hand,  went  to  the  limits  of 
his  property.  After  this  ceremony  the  relations  became 
responsible  for  payment  of  the  fine;  but  if  they  also  wero 
unable  to  discharge  it,  the  culprit  was  put  to  death.  All 
trials  were  conducted  publicly  before  a  jury  of  persons  of 
like  degree  with  the  accused.  Proof  of  the  facts  was 
admitted  by  the  testimony  of  a  certain  number  of  rela- 
tives or  friends,  whether  of  the  accused  or  the  accuser. 
The  judge  might,  however,  order  tlie  single  combat,  or 
judicial  duel,  and  the  ordeals  by  cold  water,  hot  water, 
or  red-hot  iron.  In  the  first  case,  the  accused  with  feet 
and  wrists  bound,  being  thrown  into  a  large  vessel  filled 
with  water,  was  considered  to  be  guilty  if  he  floated — the 
water,  which  had  been  religiously  consecrated,  being 
unable,  they  said,  to  retain  anything  impure.  In  the 
second,  he  plunged  his  hand  to  the  bottom  of  a  vase  filled 
with  water  heated  to  the  boiling-point,  to  take  out  a  ring 
which  the  judge  had  thrown  therein.  If  he  withdrew  ib 
without  any  trace  of  injury  he  was  acquitted.  It  was 
the  judgment  of  God.  The  ordeal  by  red-hot  iron  was 
analogous :  he  had  to  lift  and  carry  for  a  few  paces  a  bar 
of  iron  reddened  in  the  fire;  if,  three  days  afterwards, 
the  hand  was  without  injury,  or  if  the  injury  presented 
a  certain  aspect,  the  accused  was  innocent.  Tortures  and 
executions  were  reserved  for  the  slave  and  the  serf  con- 
victed of  crime.  The  free  man  was  habitually  subjected 
only  to  the  wehrgeld. 

The  Salic  Law. — That  law,  drawn  up  in  writing  on 
the  left  bank  of  the  Bliine  before  the  baptism  of  Clovis, 
is  preceded  by  a  prologue  written  later  by  some  cleric  of 
Fiankish  origin,  and  which  clearly  shows  the  degree  of 
savagery  still  remaining  in  that  people,  even  in  its 
records,  and  also  sincere  devotion  to  the  Church:  *'  Long 
live  the  Christ  who  loves  the  Franks !  may  he  watch  over 
their  kingdom  and  fill  their  king  with  light  and  grace; 


46 


HISTORY  OF   GERMANY. 


[period  II. 


may  he  protect  the  army,  may  he  gmnt  it  signs  which 
attest  its  faith,  the  joys  of  peace  and  happiness.  May 
the  Lord  Jesus  direct  in  the  path  of  piety  the  reigns  of 
those  who  govern  us;  for  this  nation  is  that  one  which, 
small  in  numbers,  but  brave  and  strong,  shook  off  the 
heavy  yoke  of  the  Romans,  and  who,  having  recognised 
the  sanctity  of  ba})tism,  ornamented  sumptuously  with 
gold  and  precious  stones,  the  bodies  of  the  holy  martyrs, 
whom  the  Romans  had  burnt  in  the  fire,  massacred,  muti- 
lated with  the  sword,  or  caused  to  be  torn  by  wild  beasts." 

A  famous  article  of  the  Salic  law  decreed  that  a  woman 
could  not  inherit  Salic  or  allodial  land,  for  which  the 
Frank  owed  military  service.  That  exclusion  was  natural ; 
and,  later  on,  the  kingdom  was  assimilated  to  the  Salic 
land,  and  women  in  France  have  always  been  excluded 
from  the  succession  to  the  cro\vn.  In  all  the  German 
kingdoms  general  assemblies  of  the  people  were  held 
under  different  designations.  Thus,  among  the  Anglo- 
Saxons,  they  were  termed  Witenagemots  (Councils  ot 
the  Wise),  and,  amongst  the  Franks,  INIarzfelder  (fields 
of  March),  because  they  were  held  in  the  open  fields  in 
that  month.  At  these  meetings  questions  of  war  and 
peace  were  debated ;  and,  in  the  event  of  the  former  being 
voted,  the  Heerbann  or  general  militia  was  called  out 
by  the  king,  every  adult  male  being  required  to  appear 
at  an  appointed  place  armed  and  equipped  for  the  cam- 
paign. In  the  field  the  inhabitants  of  each  duchy  and 
county  were  marshalled  under  the  banner  of  their  duke 
or  count,  the  whole  being  imder  tlie  command  of  the  king. 

Childebeii;  II.,  having  reunited  the  two  kingdoms  of 
Austrasia  and  Burgundy,  had  attempted  to  seize  upon 
that  of  his  cousin,  Clotaire  II.;  but  his  troops  were 
defeated  at  Droissy,  near  Soissons;  and,  before  he  had 
time  to  repair  that  check,  a  sudden  sickness  carried  him 
off  in  596.  He  left  two  sons,  the  eldest  of  whom,  Theo- 
debert  II.,  had  Austrasia;  the  other,  Thierry  II.,  Bur- 
gimdy.  After  their  deaths,  Clotaire  II.  reigned  alone  till 
628,  when  he  died,  leaving  his  kingdom  between  his  two 
sons,  Dagobcrt  1.  and  Charibcrt  IJ, 


511-7G8.] 


MAYORS   OF   THE   PALACE. 


47 


Clotaire  II.,  in  622,  had  imposed  his  son  Dagobert  as 
kino"  upon  the  Austrasians,  under  the  direction  of  the 
mayor  of  the  palace,  Pepin  de  Landen,  or  the  Old,  who 
had  already  distinguished  himself  in  the  struggle  against 
Brunehaut,  and  of  Saint  Arnoulf,  bishop  of  Metz.  These 
two  personages,  ancestors  of  the  Carlovingian  House, 
were  closely  allied  by  the  marriage  of  their  children. 
Ansegise,  the  son  of  Arnoulf,  had  espoused  a  daughter  of 
Pepin  de  Landen,  and  of  their  union  was  born  Pepin 

d'Heristal.  ^     nc^^  ^ 

Dagobert,  by  the  mimler  of  his  brother  m  G31,  made 
himself  master  of  the  whole  kingdom.  He  was  the  most 
powerful  and  the  most  popular  of  the  Merovingian  kings. 
''  A  terrible  prince,"  says  his  biographer,  "  towards  rebels 
and  traitors,  grasping  firmly  the  royal  sceptre,  and  stand- 
ing like  a  lion  against  the  factious."  He  founded  the 
abbey  of  St.  Denis,  where  the  greater  number  of  the  kings 
of  France  lie  buried;  he  encouraged  the  slight  vestiges 
of  art  then  existing,  and  exhibited  a  luxury  unknown  to 
his  ferocious  predecessors.  For  this  he  has  been  called 
''  the  Solomon  of  the  Franks,"  and  the  name  of  the  gold- 
Bmith  Eloi,  his  minister,  linked  with  his  own. 

Decadence  of  the  Merovingian  Empire.— The  reign  of 

Dagobert,  like  a  short  gleam  of  prosperity  between  a 
period  of  conquest  and  another  of  rapid  decadence,  saw 
also  the  reverse.  That  prince  was  forced  to  yield  the 
crreatest  part  of  Aquitaine  to  his  brother  Charibert. 
burino^  his  lifetime,  but  especially  after  his  death,  defec- 
tions multiplied.  Then  the  Saxons  refused  the  tribute, 
the  Thuringians  revolted,  the  Frisons  gave  themselves  to 
a  duke,  the  Bavarians  and  the  Alamanns  only  lent  an 
obedience  purely  nominal.  Even  in  the  interior  of  Gaul 
the  Frank  domination  fell  back  as  far  as  the  Loii-e.  The 
successors  of  Charibei-t  reigned  over  all  Aquitaine  and 
Gascony.     Southern  Burgundy  gave  itself  equally  to  its 

national  chiefs. 

Mayors  of  the  Palace.— In  each  couH  there  was  a 
mayor  of  the  palace,  chief  of  the  warriors,  elected  by 
them,  and  judge  of  all  the  quarrels  which  arose  withm 


48  HISTORY   OF   GERMANY.  [PERIOD  II. 

the  royal  abode.  By  degrees  that  officer,  who  at  first 
only  had  the  control  of  the  palace  and  the  command  of 
the  chiefs  {leudes),  assumed  plenary  power,  the  king  dele- 
gating to  his  hands  the  discharge  of  the  royal  functions. 
From  613  the  mayors  found  themselves  strong  enough  to 
stipulate,  when  delivering  up  Brunehaut  to  Clotaire  II., 
that  they  should  hold  their  appointments  for  life.  Var- 
nachaire,  says  a  contemporary  chronicler  (Fredegaire), 
was  instituted  mayor  of  the  palace  of  Burgundy,  and 
received  from  the  king  an  oath  that  he  should  never  be 
degraded.  Neustria,  Austrasia,  and  Burgundy  had  each 
their  several  mayors  of  the  palace,  who  all  strove  to 
grasp  the  principal  power.  Not  only  did  the  mayoralty 
become  an  office  for  life,  but  it  was  about  to  become,  in 
Austrasia,  at  least,  hereditary;  so  that  the  functions  ol 
royalty  will  be,  on  one  side,  in  the  hands  of  the  mayor, 
and  the  title,  on  the  other,  in  those  of  the  king. 

Gaul  now  for  some  ages  was  characterised,  under  the 
incapable  hands  of  the  Merovingian  dynasty,  by  more 
than  ancient  barbarism.  The  descendants  of  Clovis 
reigned  over  the  Franks  for  nearly  two  centuries  and  a 
half.  That  long  period  occupies  but  a  brief  space  in 
history;  its  annals  offer  only  a  succession  of  barbarities 
and  crimes.  From  Clovis  to  Charles  Martel,  the  grand- 
father of  Charlemagne,  there  existed  not  a  royal  personage 
worthy  of  the  reader's  attention  or  memory;  nor  is  there 
recorded  an  event  or  anecdote  which  could  excite  any 
other  feeling  than  that  of  disgust. 

The  race  of  Clovis  became  effete  from  gross  licentious- 
ness, and  was  thinned  by  mutual  slaughter.  Monarchs 
01  monarch's  sons  could  not  long  escape  the  sword  of  the 
assassin;  whilst  to  intrust  a  child-king  to  the  care  of  one 
of  his  own  race,  or  of  royal  blood,  even  if  such  survived, 
was  to  deliver  him  to  certain  destruction.  Hence  arose 
the  necessity  of  electing  regents  amongst  the  Frank  chiefs. 
The  office  fell  to  the  only  magistrate  or  minister  existing 
in  that  rude  state  of  society.  This  was  the  mordom  or 
Qiiajor  domih,  as  it  is  rendered  in  Latin,  who  was  at  once 
a  royal  judge  and  a  sort  of  steward  of  the  household.     lu 


611-768.] 


MAYORS   OF   THE   PALACE. 


49 


their  own  names  they  assumed  the  power  of  pardoning 
offences,  of  distributing  offices,  of  filling  vacant  fiefs,  and 
of  transmitting  their  honours  and  possessions  to  theii« 
descendants  In  all  this,  however,  they  were  obliged  to 
proceed  with  mucli  caution,  having  in  the  other  great 
feudatories  not  only  equals,  but  rivals.  Austrasia  and 
JVeustria,  or  the  kingdoms  of  the  East  and  the  West,  the 
two  great  divisions  of  the  Frankish  monarchy,  the  former 
includmg  the  territories  bordering  on  the  Rhine,  the 
latter  the  more  central  parts  of  modern  France,  were 
nominally  governed  by  Thierry  IV.,  but  in  reality  by 
I'epin  d  Heristal,  mayor  of  the  palace  and  duke  of  France  • 
who,  restricting  his  sovereign  to  a  small  domain,  ruled 

dlir^  '^^-^   ^^^'*^  "^'^^  ^^^""^  ^^'^'^''^^  ^^'^   ^^^^ 

Charles  Martel,  the  valiant  son  of  Pepin,  succeeded  to 
Ins  father  s  power,  and,  under  a  similar  title,  governed  for 
twenty-six  years  with  equal  ability  and  success.  He  was 
victorious  over  all  his  domestic  foes.  His  arms  kept  in 
awe  the  surrounding  nations;  and  he  delivered  France 
Irom  the  ravages  of  the  Saracens,  who  at  that  time  were 
making  gi^at  inroads  in  the  parts  bordering  upon  Spain, 
and  whoui  he  entirely  defeated  between  Toui^s  and  Poitiers 

300,000  ^A.D  732),*  and  again  near  Avignon,  in  737, 
thereby  in  all  probability,  securing  Lombardy,  Italy,  and 
eventually  the  eastern  empire  from  the  preponderance  of 
the  Moslems  :  such  a  course  of  conquest,  according  to 
their  own  writers,  having  been  contemplated  by  the 
Arabian  commander.  Christianity  wa^  thus  saved  from 
the  greatest  danger  by  which  it  had  ever  been  menaced 
In  the  same  year  (737),  died  Thierry  IV.,  the  last  oi 
the  sluggard  kings  {faineants),  when  Charles  Martel, 
no  longer  thinking  it  necessary  to  appoint  another  nomi- 
nal  king  at  his  death,  in  741,  bequeathed  the  kingdom  as 
an  absolute  right  between  his  two  sons,  Carloman  and 

^o^^&'t^^^    ^''^  ^^^^^  ^''  ^'^^y  ^^'^  ^--^  hammered 


n 


50 


HISTORY   OF   GERMANY. 


[period  it. 


Pepin  the  Short.  Aquitania  was  not  included  in  this 
bequest.  It  was  governed  by  dukes  of  its  own  aiid 
refused  to  acknowledge  the  authority  of  Charles.  Fepm 
and  Carlonian  assumed  the  title  and  power  of  kings,  and 
thus  put  an  end  to  the  Merovingian  dynasty,  or  that  ot 
the  race  of  Clovis,  which  had  reigned  from  a.d.  481  to 

741— in  all,  2G0  years.  ,     .   ,  . 

For  some  time  before  being  thus  supplanted  by  a  new 
power,  the  later  monarchs  of  the  Merovingians  had  become 
so  far  sunk  in  sloth  and  timidity,  that  the  titular  king 
no  longer  appeared  in  public  before  the  people  save  at  the 
assemblies  in  March.     Then,  seated  on  the  throne  of  his 
ancestors,  and  exposed  to  the  gaze  of  every  one,  he  bowed 
to  the  great  men,  who  returned  his  salute;  received  the 
presents  offered  to  him  by  the  nation,  and  remitted  them 
to  the  mayor  of  the  palace,  who  stood  at  the  foot  of  the 
throne      Kext,  he  distributed,  according  to  the  decision 
of  the  mayor,  the  vacant  domains,  or  confirmed  those 
which  had  been  abready  granted.      This  done,  he  re- 
entered his  chariot  drawn  by  four  oxen,  fol  owing  the 
ancient  custom,  and  rolled  lazily  back  to  his  palace,  which 
he  did  not  leave  again  until  the  month  of  March  m  the 
following-  year.     The  male  members  of  the  Merovingian 
roval  family  were  distinguished  from  the  rest  of  the  people 
by  the  custom  of  wearing  their  hair  in  long  curls  hanging 
down  over  their  shouldei^,  whilst  all  the  other  Franks 
had  it  cut  very  short.     From  this  custom  they  are  some- 
times called  the  *' long-haired  kings"  {les  rois  chevelns). 
The  Merovingian  race,  says  Eginhard,  had  not  for  a  long 
time  given  proof  of  any  virtue,  or  of  anything  illustrious 
save  the  title  of  king.    The  prince  contented  himself  with 
the  exhibition  of  his  flowing  locks  and  ample  beard,  with 
sittin<^  on  the  throne  and  in  his  royal  robes  thus  repre- 
sentinc^  the  monarch,  generally  too  happy  to  intrust  the 
cares  of  state  to  an  able  minister,  whilst  they  themselves 
did  little  else  (says  a  contemporary,  Gregory  of  Tours), 
but  gormandise  like  brute  beasts,  except  now  and  then 
si^ming  a  state  paper,  or  giving  audience  to  ambassador, 
and  making  replies  to  them  which  they  were  taught, 


511-7CS.] 


mayors  of  the  palace. 


51 


or  rather  ordered  to  make.  When  Pepin  d'Heristal 
demanded  of  Berthaire,  a  pretender  to  the  throne  of 
Neustria,  the  recall  of  the  Neustrian  chiefs  who  had 
sought  refuge  in  Austrasia,  Berthaire  replied  that  ho 
would  go  in  search  of  them  himself,  and  went  at  the 
liead  of  a  numerous  army.  But  Roman  France^  as 
Neustria  had  then  begun  to  be  called,  was  conquered  at 
Testry  (near  Peronne),  by  Teutonic  France,  (687).  That 
battle  really  put  an  end  to  tlie  first  dynasty  of  the  Frank 
kings.  For  though  the  Merovingian  kings  still  bore 
that  title  until  752,  it  was  without  linking  with  it  even 
a  shadow  of  power.  In  those  65  years,  no  acclamation 
arose  in  favour  of  that  degenerate  race  to  which  it 
seemed  even  a  trouble  to  live.  Almost  all  these  princes 
died  in  early  manhood.  Those  who  attained  their 
thiiiiieth  year  were  ah-eady  old  men,  and  their  subjects 
were  astonished  to  see  them  reach  so  '^reat  an  a^^e 


THIRD    PERIOD. 


FROM   CIIAI^LEMAGNE   TO   HENRY   I. — (7G8-910). 

Origin  of  the  Carlovingians.— The  empire  of  tlio 
Merovingians,  which  had  reached  its  apogee  under 
Dagobert,  had,  as  has  been  shown,  slowly  crumbled  to 
pieces  in  the  incapable  hands  of  the  "  sluggard "  kings. 
But  from  among  the  Franks,  who  had  preserved  upon  the 
banks  of  the  Rhine  the  warlike  energy  of  the  first  con- 
querors, there  sprang  a  family  which  combined  all  the 
conditions  then  requisite  for  exercising  a  gi-eat  influence. 
It  had  very  considerable  possessions,  for  it  reckoned 
amongst  them  as  many  as  one  hundred  and  twenty-three 
domains,  and  it  had  consequently  a  numerous  band  of 
adherents,  that  is  to  say,  many  warriors  attached  to  its 
fortunes.  The  chiefs  of  this  family,  during  the  seventh 
century,  had  held  hereditarily  the  office  of  mayor  of  the 
palace  of  Austrasia;  first  in  the  persons  of  Pepin  de 
Landen  and  Amoulf ;  next  in  Grimbald,  son  of  Pepin, 
who  had  thought  himself  strong  enough  to  place  his  own 
son  upon  the  throne;  and  at  length  in  Pepin  d'Heristal, 
who,  in  687,  usurped  the  whole  power  of  the  kingdom. 
(Landen  and  Heristal  were  small  towns  in  the  neighbour- 
hood of  Liege).  On  the  death  of  Pepin,  in  714,  he  was 
succeeded  in  his  office  and  dignities  as  general  and 
governor  of  all  France  by  his  son,  Charles  Martel,  of 
whose  signal  valour  and  great  energy  mention  has  already 
been  made.  Charles  died  in  741,  covered  with  glory  on 
account  of  his  splendid  victories,  leaving  two  sons,  Pepin 
the  Short  and  Carloman,  the  latter  of  whom  soon  after- 
wards retired  into  a  monastery;  when  Pepin  became  sole 
major  domiU  of  France.     In  that  quality,  he  governed 


768-919.] 


WARS   OF   PEPIN". 


53 


the  kingdom  at  his  will,  in  all  wisdom  and  equity; 
whilst  the  king,  Childeric  III.,  kept  himself  shut  up  like 
a  woman  in  his  palace,  without  troubling  himself  about 
the  government.  But  Pepin,  having  convinced  himself 
that  general  feeling  was  in  his  favour,  convoked  a  national 
assembly  in  751,  at  which  it  was  decided  that  a  deputa- 
tion should  be  sent  to  the  Pope  to  propose  the  following 
insidious  question:  "Which  of  the  two  is  most  worthy 
of  the  title  of  king;  he  who  sits  idly  at  home,  or  he  who 
bears  the  burden  and  cares  of  government?"  Pope 
Zacharias  replied :  "  He  ought  to  be  king  who  holds  the 
royal  power."  The  Franks  reassembled  at  Soissons  on 
this  matter,  tore  the  crown  from  Childeric  III,  the  last 
Merovingian,  cut  off*  his  long  locks,  and  condemned  him 
to  pass  the  rest  of  his  life  in  a  cloister. 

Wars  of  Pepin  (741-768).— During  twenty-six  years 
of  continual  wars  and  victories,  Pepin  rendered  more 
assured  the  domination  of  the  Franks  over  the  Germanic 
tribes.  He  overthrew  the  dukes  of  Aquitania,  rescued 
Septimania  from  the  Arabs,  and  took  the  city  of  Yannes 
from  the  Bretons.  At  the  solicitation  of  the  Pope,  Pepin 
twice  crossed  the  Alps  and  conquered  Astolphus,  king  of 
the  Lombards,  who,  alarmed  at  the  alliance  between  the 
king  of  the  Franks  and  the  Pope,  had  attacked  the  latter 
in  his  capital.  Pepin  having  driven  out  Astolphus  from 
the  province  called  the  exarchate  of  Ravenna,  gave  it  to 
the  church.  That  donation  was  the  origin  of  the  tem- 
poral power  of  the  popes.  As  a  reward  for  his  services, 
Pepin  was  nominated  exarch  of  Rome  and  Ravenna,  with 
the  title  of  Protector  of  the  Holy  City;  and  thus  in  the 
alliance  of  the  temporal  and  spiritual  powers  was  laid  the 
foundation  of  that  grievous  tyranny  under  which  Germany 
afterwards  groaned  for  so  many  centuries.  The  church 
revived  for  him  the  Hebrew  rite  of  consecration;  he 
twice  received  the  holy  unction,  first  from  the  hands 
of  Boniface,  the  apostle  of  Germany,  and  a  second  time, 
in  754,  by  those  of  Pope  Stephen  II.,  who  came  himself 
for  that  purpose  as  far  as  St.  Denis.  He  undertook  only 
two  expeditions  against  the  Saxons,  from  whom  he  exjicted 


64 


UISTORY  OF   GERMAN^,  [PERIOD  III. 


a  tribute  of  300  horses  and  free  entrance  into  tlieir 
country  to  the  Christian  priests.  In  that  quarter,  he 
seems  not  to  have  wished  to  trouble  by  his  arms  the  work 
of  civilization  which  the  missionaries  were  then  accom- 
plishing. All  his  attention  and  all  his  strength  were 
directed  towards  the  countries  of  the  South,  Italy, 
Aquitania,  and  Southern  Gaul.  Pepin  died  of  dropsy 
at  Paris  on  his  return  from  the  expedition  of  768,  in 
which  he  achieved  the  conquest  of  Aquitania;  "and," 
says  Eginhard,  "  with  the  consent  of  his  nobles,  divided, 
on  his  death-bed,  the  kingdom  of  France  between  his  two 
sons,  Charles  and  Carloman." 

Pei)in  was  surnamed  the  Short  from  the  smallness  of  his 
stature,  which,  however,  detracted  in  no  wise  from  his 
physical  strength,  if  a  very  doubtful  anecdote  be  credited 
that  with  one  blow  he  fractured  the  skull  of  a  lion  that 
no  one  dared  encounter.  He  was  a  man  of  gi*eat  activity 
of  mind  and  body,  and  reigned  for  17  years  with  dignity 
and  success,  the  founder  of  the  second  race  of  monarcLs 
known  as  the  Carlovingian.  In  759,  he  annexed  to  his 
own  dominions Narbonne  and  a  great  i)ortionof  Languedoc, 
then  called  Septimania,  which  had  been  conquered  from 
the  Visigoths  by  the  Saracens.  Upon  Pepin  fell  a  two- 
fold task — to  reconstruct  the  emi)ire  of  the  Franks  which 
was  falling  to  pieces,  and  to  restore  the  royal  authority, 
then  in  ruins.  Of  these  two  tasks,  the  second  was  more 
difficult  to  accomplish  than  the  first. 

Charlemagne  and  Carloman.  (7G8-771).— Carloman 
had  received  Neustria  as  his  portion,  and  Charles  (after- 
wards known  in  history  as  Charlemagne,  or  Charles  the 
Great)  inherited  Austrasia.  This  division  of  the  empire 
existed  for  only  three  years,  and  those  years  were  employed 
in  completing  the  work  of  Pepin  in  Aquitania.  Carloman 
had  badly  supported  his  elder  brother  in  tLat  war,  and  a 
misunderstanding  arose  between  the  two  princes  which 
threatened  a  civil  war,  when  Carloman  died  from  an 
accident  in  771,  leaving  sons.  The  Neustrians  having  to 
choose  between  those  children  and  their  uncle,  Charlemagne, 
who  had  already  shown  himself  a  worthy  successor  of 


768-919.]     CnARLEMAGNE  AND  CARLOMAN. 


65 


Pepin,  did  not  hesitate  to  proclaim  him  their  king.  The 
first  act  of  Charlemagne  had  stamped  him  as  the  warrior 
eager  for  conquest.  He  raised  an  army  and  advanced 
with  it  beyond  the  Loire.  For  centuries  barbarism  had 
been  continually  making  war  upon  civilization,  conquering, 
destroying,  or  blending  with  it.  The  conquest  was  not  yet 
over,  the  amalgamation  not  perfect.  The  rude  Austrasians 
of  the  Rhine  had  lately  subdued  the  more  polished  Neus- 
trians of  the  banks  of  the  Seine.  But  Aquitania  and  the 
southern  provinces  were,  with  respect  to  Neustria,  what 
Neu stria  had  been  to  Austrasia,  far  more  civilised  and 
Latinised,  and  the  hate  on  the  one  side  equalled  the  desire 
of  conquest  and  domination  on  the  other.  Pepin  had 
vanquished  the  Aquitanians.  Upon  his  death  they  rebelled, 
rallying  round  one  of  the  family  of  their  ancient  dukes. 
But  the  courage  of  the  southerns  failed  before  the  approach 
of  Charlemagne  and  his  northern  army;  their  troops  dis- 
persed, and  their  chief  remained  a  prisoner.  Charlemagne, 
ere  he  retired,  built  the  strong  castle  of  Fronsac,  on  the  Dor- 
dognc,  and  garrisoned  it,  to  keep  the  malcontent  province 
in  subjection.  The  Franks  had  hitherto  a  hatred  of  towns, 
and  a  contempt  for  fortifications.  This  is  the  first  instance 
among  them  of  dominating  a  country  by  means  of  a  fortress, 
and  marks  how  advanced  were  the  views  of  Charlemagne 
beyond  those  of  his  time.  To  a  restless  activity  of  body, 
which  made  every  hour  appear  tedious  unless  employed 
in  combating  his  enemies,  or  in  the  organization  of  his 
empire  at  home,  this  great  man  united  a  creative  spirit, 
which,  during  the  forty-three  years  of  his  reign,  changed 
the  condition  not  only  of  France,  but  of  all  Euroi)e.  With 
him  closes  the  history  of  ancient  Germany.  All  the  old 
free  states  and  kingdoms  were  incorporated  into  one  mighty 
empire,  and  with  the  new  name  the  people  adopted  new 
views  and  a  new  character. 

The  Goths,  the  Burgundians,  the  Lombards,  and  the 
Franks,  had,  as  has  been  said,  embraced  Christianity 
already  for  some  time  back;  but  it  was  only  two  centuries 
afterwards  that  it  spread  in  Germany,  the  greater  part  of 
which  seems  to  have  remained  in  heathen  darkness  imtil 


b6 


History  of  Germany.         [period  hi. 


the  eighth  century,  when  missionaries  from  the  churches 
of  England,  Scotland,  and  Ireland,  left  their  own  shores 
to  preach  the  Gospel  of  Christ  in  the  forests  of  their 
ancient  fatlierland.     Amongst  those  zealous  proi)agatoi*s 
of  the  truth,  who  sowed  the  good  seed  far  and  wide,  the 
most  distinguished  was  an  Anglo-Saxon  monk,  named 
Winifried,  who  was   later   known  by  the  clerical   title 
of  Bonifacius  {beneficent).     On  his  amval  in  Gaul,  he 
found   heathenish  ceremonies   everywhere   interminf^led 
with   the   rites   of  Christian   worship;    the   priests   so 
ignorant  that,  far  from  being  able  to  explain  the  doctrines 
of  Christianity,  few  of  them  could  even  read.     Boniface, 
indeed,  complained  far  more  bitterly  of  the  bad  Christian 
priests  whom  he  found  amongst  the  Franks,  than  of  the 
barbarity  of  the  pagans.     They  abandoned  themselves  to 
every  sort  of  crime;  and  for  money  they  would  have  as 
readily  sacrificed  to  pagan  gods,  to  Thor  or  Woden,  as 
baptize   Christians;    and   the   lightest   reproaches   with 
which  he  visits  the  bishops,  whose  duty  it  was  to  main- 
tain the  discipline  of  the  Church,  being  that  they  were 
more  occupied  with  war,  the  chase,  and  the  banquet,  than 
in  the  exercise  of  their  religious  functions.    "For  the  last 
60  or  70  years,"  he  writes  to  Pope  Zacharias,  "religion 
has  been  entirely  dragged  in  the  mire ;  and  more  than  80 
years  have  elapsed  since  the  Franks  have  held  a  council, 
and  they  have  not  a  single  archbishop.     Almost  all  the 
bishoprics  are  in  the  hands  of  greedy  laics,  and  the  others 
in  those  of  infamous  ecclestiastics  who  seek  only  after 
temporal  gain."     Having  soon  ascertained  that  the  co- 
operation of  some  higher  power  would  be  requisite,  in 
order  to  enforce  discipline  among  the  corrupt  clergy  of 
the   Frankish   church,   Boniface   earnestly  solicitecf  the 
assistance  of  the  Pope.     That  such  a  step  was  unavoid- 
able, appears  from  his  letters,  in  which  he  describes  himself 
as  being  "  in  the  situation  of  a  mastiff,  which  sees  the 
thieves  and  murderers  breaking  into  his  master  s 'house, 
but,  having  none  to  help  him,  can  do  little  more  than 
groan  and  gi-owl."     In  an  epistle  to  the  English  bishop, 
Daniel,  he  speaks  also  of  the  necessity  of  conciliating,  not 


768-919.] 


WAR  AGAINST  THE   SAXOXS. 


57 


only  the  Pope,  but  the  Frankish  king.  <*  Without  aid 
from  the  Prince  of  the  Franks,  I  can  neither  rule  the 
people,  nor  protect  the  priests  and  deacons,  monks  and 
nuns,  whom  I  have  brought  hither  with  me  from  England ; 
nor  can  I,  without  his  commands  and  penalties  to  enforce 
obedience  to  the  same,  hope  to  put  an  end  to  their 
heathenish  practices  and  sacrifices  to  idols." 

The  great  measure  of  church  reform  among  the  Franks 
having  been  at  length  completed,  Boniface  found  himself 
at  leisure  to  undertake  the  conversion  of  the  heathen;  a 
work  which  he  carried  on  with  his  accustomed  energy, 
preaching  with  great  zeal  and  effect,  and  stationing  mis- 
sionaries in  all  parts  of  Germany.     Fearless  of  danger, 
he  would  scatter  with  his  own  hands  the  stones  of  altars, 
around  which  multitudes  of  howling  savages  were  assem- 
bled to  offer  sacrifices  to  their  idols;  or,  snatching  an  axe 
from  the  ministering  priests,  hew  down  some  ancient  tree, 
the  dwelling,  as  they  believed,  of  some  deity  of  their  dark 
and  bloody  mythology.    During  this  operation,  the  people 
would  gaze  in  stupid  wonder  on  the  sacrilegious  stranger, 
expecting,  as  stroke  after  stroke  fell  on  the  trunk,  that 
its  terrible  inhabitant  would  rush  forth  in  a  jflame  of  fire 
and  consume  Boniface  and  his  companions;  but  when  the 
tree  at  length  fell,  without  any  sign  of  their  god's  dis- 
pleasure, they  generally  lost  all  confidence  in  his  power, 
and  listened  patiently  to  the  exhortations  of  the  mission- 
aries.     All  who  declared  their  willingness  to  embrace 
Christianity  were  then  questioned  after  a  certain  formulary. 
In  the  seventieth  year  of  his  age,  Boniface  being  then 
archbishop  of  Mainz  and  primate  of  the  Greek  Church, 
went  to  preach  the  gospel  in  Friesland,  where  he  fell  a 
victim  to  the  ferocity  of  the  people.     "Truly"  (says  old 
Schmidt),  Germany  hath  great  cause  to  be  thankful  unto 
Bonifacius;  for  he  it  was  who  gave  her  instructors,  not 
only  in  religion,  but  in  the  sciences;  persuaded  her  in- 
habitants to  eat  no  more  horse-flesh,  laid  the  foundation 
of  letters  among  them,  and  shunned  not  to  shed  his  blood 
for  their  sakes." 

War  ag-ainst  the  Saxons  (772-80^).— Bcligion  was 


53  fllSTORT  OP  GEnMANY.  [PERIOD  III. 

the  pretext  for  the  long  war  Charlemagne  waged  against 
the  Saxons — the  most  formidable  and  obstinate  enemies 
whom  he  encountered  during  his  reign.     The  Saxons,  a 
brave  but  savage  race,  who  for  centuries  had  been  engaged 
y    at  intervals  in  sanguinary  struggles  with  the  Frankish 
y        kings,  had  burned  the  church  of  Deventer  and  menaced 
with   death   the   missionaries   who   had   come    amongst 
them.     Charlemagne  immediately  entered  their  country, 
and  devastated  it  far  and  wide  by  sword  and  fire,  took 
the  castle  of  Ehresbourg,  and  o\^rthrew  the  idol  Irminsul, 
a  patriotic  remembrance  of  Hermann  (or  Arminius),  the 
liberator  of  Germany  from  the  Romans.     In  774,  whilst 
Charles  the  Great  was  in  Italy,  the  Saxons  tried  to 
burn  the  church  of  Fritzlar;    he  returned  and  began  a 
war  of  extermination,  of  which  the  principal  incidents 
were  the  victories  of  Buckholz,  of  Detmold  and  Osna- 
bruck,  the  massacre  of  the  4500  Saxons  decapitated  at 
Verden,  the  transportation  of  a  part  of  that  people  into 
other  provinces,  and  the  forced  conversion  of  the  in- 
habitants.    The  hero  of  the  resistance  was  Wittikind. 
He   fought   resolutely   until    785;    ho   then   submitted 
and    received    baptism    at    Attigny.       The    last    cam- 
paign, hov/ever,   was   undertaken   as  late  as   the  3^ear 
803. 

^  Charlemagne,  in  787,  had  promulgated  for  the  organisa- 
tion of  Saxony,  a  capitular  in  which  the  pain  of  death 
was  to  be  found  in  almost  every  article,  not  only  for 
crimes  which  all  laws  punished  thus,  but  for  simple 
infractions  of  the  ordinances  of  the  church;  for  havin^ 
broken  the  quadrigesimal  fast,  refused  baptism,  carried 
on  intrigues  with  pagans,  or  burned,  like  them,  the  body 
of  a  dead  man,  holding,  as  he  did,  cremation  to  be  a 
pagan  rite. 

Charlemagne,  having  followed  up  this  cnieade  at  inter- 
vals for  a  period  of  thirty-three  years,  by  means  not 
nnfrequently  altogether  atrocious,  at  length  succeeded. 
Saxony  emerged  from  his  hands  subdued  and  Christian, 
divided  into  eight  bishoprics,  studded  with  new  cities  and 
abbeys,  which  proved  centres  of  civilization;   and  that 


708-910.] 


WAR   AGAINST  THE   SAXONS. 


69 


wild  country,  until  then  barbarous  and  pagan,  entered 
into  communion  with  the  rest  of  the  empire. 

It  will  now  be  necessary  to  revert  to  the  year  773, 
when  Chai'lemagne*s  attention  was  called  away  from  the 
Saxons  towards  Italy,  where  his  conquests  and  alliances 
produced  events  as  important  in  their  consequences, 
perhaps,  as  any  to  be  found  in  modern  history.  He  had 
contracted  a  matrimonial  alliance  with  Desiderata,  a 
Lombard  princess;  but  had  repudiated  her  within  a  year 
after  their  luiion,  apparently  from  mere  caprice,  and  sent 
her  back  dishonoured  to  her  father.  Didier  (or  Desiderius), 
king  of  the  Lombards,  exasperated  by  this  gross  outrage, 
appealed  to  the  Pope,  Adrian  I.,  to  recognise  the  two 
young  sons  of  Carloman  as  their  father's  lawful  successors ; 
and,  on  the  pontiff's  refusal,  the  Lombard  army  invaded 
the  pa]^al  territory,  seized  upon  several  cities,  and  threat- 
enccl  Home  itself.  In  the  autumn  of  773,  Adrian  sent 
messengers  in  urgent  haste  to  the  king  of  the  Franks, 
imploring  immediate  succour.  Charlemagne  assembled 
his  forces  at  Geneva,  and  crossed  the  Alps  in  two  great 
divisions — the  first,  under  himself,  by  the  pass  of  Mont 
Cenis,  whilst  his  uncle  Bernard  attempted  the  passage  at 
the  spot  which  was  then  Mons  Jovis  {Mont  Joux)y  but 
which  has  since  been  called  after  his  name,  the  Great  St. 
Bernard.  Checked  for  a  moment  by  the  enemy  in  their 
descent  from  the  mountains,  the  Franks  overpowered  all 
resistance  when  once  they  had  reached  the  plain.  Didier 
fied  to  Pavia;  his  son,  Adalbgis  (Adalgisius),  with  whom 
were  the  widow  and  children  of  Carloman,  threw  himself 
into  Verona.  Both  cities  were  invested  by  the  Franks, 
and  both,  after  some  months,  surrendered  at  discretion. 
When  the  Lombard  king  reconnoitered  the  Frankish 
army  from  a  high  tower,  and  saw  the  gigantic  form  of 
his  enemy  sheathed  in  bright  armour,  and  mounted  on  a 
charger,  which  seemed,  like  its  master,  to  be  an  animated 
statue  of  iron,  his  heart,  the  old  chroniclers  relate,  sunk 
within  him,  and  he  exclaimed  in  a  melancholy  tone  to  his 
attendants — "  Let  us  descend  and  liide  ourselves  in  the 
earth  from  the  angiy  face  of  so  terrible  a  foe."     Didier, 


60 


HISTORY   OF   GERMANY.  [PERIOD  III. 


•with  his  wife  and  daughter,  the  widowed  queen  of 
Carloman,  and  the  orphan  princes,  all  fell  into  the  hands 
of  the  conqueror.  Charlemagne,  having  placed  on  his 
own  head  the  ancient  iron  crown  of  Lombardy,  the 
Lombard  king  was  sent  captive  to  Gaul,  confined  first 
at  Liege,  and  afterwards  for  life  in  the  Abbey  of  Corvey. 
The  fate  of  the  young  princes  is  more  doubtful,  but  it 
seems  probable  that  they  were  likewise  compelled  to  bury 
themselves  for  life  in  the  obscurity  of  the  cloister. 

The  same  year  Charlemagne  visited  E-ome,  and,  dis- 
mounting at  a  thousand  paces  from  the  walls,  walked  in 
procession  to  the  church  of  St.  Peter  on  the  Vatican  Hill, 
kissing  the  steps  in  succession  as  he  ascended  in  honour 
of  the  saints  by  whose  feet  they  had  been  trodden.  In 
the  vestibule  of  the  church  he  was  received  by  the  Pope, 
who  embraced  him  with  great  affection,  the  choir  chant- 
ing the  psalm,  "  Blessed  is  he  who  cometh  in  the  name 
of  the  Lord."  Then  they  descended  into  the  vaults,  and 
offered  up  their  prayers  together  at  the  shrine  ol  St. 
Peter. 

Meanwhile,  the  Lombards,  far  from  submitting  patiently 
to  the  yoke  of  a  foreign  master,  had  placed  Adalgisius, 
the  son  of  Didier,  on  his  father's  throne.  But  might 
again  prevailed  over  right,  and  the  unhappy  prince  was 
compelled  to  save  his  life  by  going  into  exile ;  whilst  of 
all  the  Lombardic  cities,  Venice  alone  bade  defiance  to 
the  conqueror,  beat  back  his  armies  from  her  walls,  and 
retained  her  freedom. 

Charlemagne  next  spread  his  victorious  arms  over  the 
south  of  Italy,  the  whole  of  which  submitted  to  his 
power,  with  the  exception  of  that  part  which  now  forms 
the  kingdom  of  Naples,  and  which  was  then  governed  by 
independent  princes  of  the  Lombardic  race,  who  had  the 
title  of  dukes  of  Beneventum.  Charlemai'ne  had  a  ^rreat 
desire  to  annex  this  province  to  his  new  kingdom 
of  Italy,  but  the  dukes  of  Beneventum  fought  hard 
for  their  independence,  and  Charlemagne,  after  a 
long  struggle,  Avas  obliged  to  give  up  the  attem])t. 
The  Frank  domination  extended   no  further  than  the 


7C8-91 9.]  CHARLEMAGNE,    EMPEROR   OF   THE   WEST. 


61 


Garigliano;  and,  if  the  dukes  of  Beneventum  acknow- 
ledged themselves  as  tributaries,  they  mostly  only  paid 
the  tribute  when  an  army  came  to  demand  it  from  them. 
Charlemagne,  however,  assumed  the  title  of  king  of 
Italy  in  774,  and  that  was  the  commencement  of  the 
misfortunes  of  that  country.  From  that  time,  it  has 
almost  always  ceased  to  boast  of  its  independence,  and  it 
was  by  that  title  of  heii^  of  Charlemagne  that  the  empe- 
rors of  Germany  reigned  over  the  valley  of  the  Po.  The 
Lombards  always  preserved  that  which  they  possessed  in 
the  south  of  the  peninsula. 

War  in  Spain  (778). — Charlemagne  was  at  Paderborn, 
occupied  with  compelling  the  Saxons  to  be  baptised,  when 
a  Saracen  emir,  Jhn-al-Arabi,  lord  of  Saragossa,  came 
to  him  offering  to  place  the  Franks  in  possession  of  the 
cities  he  held  south  of  the  Pyrenees.  Charles  accepted  the 
invitation,  and  with  a  numerous  army  traversed  Gascony, 
tlie  duke  of  which,  Loup,  was  forced  to  swear  fidelity  to 
liim.  He  took  Pampeluna  and  Saragossa.  But  his  allies 
offering  him  little  aid,  he  re-entered  France  by  the  gorges 
of  the  Pyrenees.  The  principal  general  in  this  expedition 
was  Roland,  lord  of  the  marches  of  Brittany,  the  hero  of 
Fmnkish  song,  who  fell  in  a  skirmish  while  threading  the 
defile  of  Roncesvalles. 

In  the  course  of  a  reign  of  forty-five  years,  Charle- 
magne extended  the  limits  of  his  empire  beyond  the 
Danube ;  subdued  Dacia,  Dalmatia,  and  Istria-,  conquered 
and  subjected  all  the  barbarous  tribes  to  the  banks  of  the 
Vistula,  and  successfully  encountered  the  arms  of  the 
Saracens,  the  Huns,  the  Bulgarians,  and  the  Saxons. 
His  war  with  the  Saxons  was  of  more  than  thirty  years 
duration,  and  their  final  conquest  was  not  achieved  with- 
out an  inhuman  waste  of  blood,  through  what  has  been 
considered  a  mistaken  zeal  for  the  propagation  of  Christi- 
anity, by  measures  which  that  religion  cannot  be  said  to 
sanction  or  approve. 

Charlemagne,  Emperor  of  the  West  (800). — All  these 

wars  were  very  nearly  finished  in  the  year  800.  Charle- 
magne then  found  himself  master  of  France,  of  Germany, 


62 


HISTORY   OF   GERMANY.  [rERIOD  III. 


of  three  quarters  of  Italy,  and  a  part  of  Spain.     He  had 
increased  by  more  than  a  third  the  extent  of  territory 
which  his  father  had  left  him.     These  vast  possessions 
were  no  longer  a  kingdom,  but  an  empire.     He  thouglit 
he  had  done  enough  to  be  authorised  to  seat  himself  on 
the  throne  of  the  West;  and,  as  his  father  had  required 
at  the  hands  of  the  Pope  his  regal  crown,  so  it  was  from 
the  Pope  that  he  demanded  his  imperial  diadem.     He 
was,  therefore,  with  gi'eat  ceremony,  created  Emjieror  of 
the  West  in  St.  Peter's,  at  Rome,  by  Pope  Leo  III.,  on 
Christmas  day  800.      It  was   a  great   event,   for   that 
imperial  title  which  had  remained  buried  under  the  ruins 
wrought  by  the  barbarians,  was  drawn  thence  by  the 
Roman   pontiff,    and    shown   to   scattered   nations   and 
enemies  as  a  rallying  sign.      A  new  right  was  created 
for  those  who  should  inherit  that  crown — the  rif^ht  of 
ruling  over  the  Italian,  German,  and  French  peoples,  who 
then  found  themselves  united  under  the  sceptre  of  the 
first  Germanic  emperor.      When  circumstances  arising 
out  of  family  claims,  and  through  lapse  of  time,  caused 
this  title  to  pass  to  the  German  kings,  France  found  her- 
self strong  enough  to  repulse  the  domination  of  a  foreign 
Caesar,  but  not  Italy.      Thence  sprung  one-half  of  the 
evils  which  that  beautiful  country  was  doomed  to  suffer. 

Extent  of  the  Empire  of  Charlemagne.— Of  these 

extensive  conquests  of  Charlemagne  some  were  durable, 
others  ephemeral;  some  useful,  others  not.  They  had 
changed  the  constitution  of  a  large  portion  of  Europe. 
From  the  Ebro  to  the  Raab  and  Theiss,  and  from  Bene- 
ventum  to  the  Eyder,  all  the  German  tribes,  with  the 
exception  of  the  Anglo-Saxons,  and  the  Scandinavians, 
who  occupied  Norway,  Denmark,  and  Sweden,  were  for 
the  first  time  united  under  one  head.  To  these  were 
joined  the  Romans  of  the  western  empire,  and  a  consider- 
able portion  of  the  Sclavonians  and  Avars;  so  that  the 
dominions  of  Charlemagne  were  more  extensive  than 
those  of  the  Roman  emperors  had  been.  The  whole  of 
this  mighty  monarchy  had  one  religion,  which  fonned  a 
wall  of  separation  from  the  Mahommedans  in  Spain, 


768-919.]  PIRATICAL   DESCENTS   OF  THE   NORMANS 


o» 


53 


Africa,  and  Asia,  on  the  one  side,  and  the  heathenish 
Nonnans,  Sclavonians,  and  Avars,  on  the  other.  Italians 
and  Germans,  forgetting  their  former  hatred  of  each  other, 
were  now  united  to  defend  their  church  against  the  attacks 
of  all  enemies,  whether  Mahommedan,  pagan,  or  heretical, 
like  the  inhabitants  of  the  eastern  empire. 

Coronation  of  Charlemagne  by  Leo  III.  (800).~In 
800,  as  already  stated,  the  Emperor  of  the  Franks 
received  from  the  hands  of  Pope  Leo  III.  the  crown 
which  was  destined  for  one  thousand  and  six  years  to  be 
the  symbol  of  German  unity,  whilst  the  assembled  people 
shouted  "Long  life  and  victory  to  Carolus  Augustus,  the 
great  and  peace-bringing  Roman  emperor,  whom  God  hath 
crowned ! "  Thus,  324  years  after  the  imperial  dignity 
had  disappeared  in  the  person  of  Romulus  Augustulus, 
it  was  renewed  by  Charlemagne,  who  attributed  such  im- 
portance to  that  coronation  as  to  require  from  all  male 
persons  who  had  attained  the  age  of  twelve  years  a  new 
oath  of  submission.  Another  personage  acquired  on 
that  occasion  an  important  prerogative.  In  crowning 
Charlemagne,  Pope  Leo  III.  had  fulfilled  a  function,  like 
St.  Remy  did  in  consecrating  Clovis.  His  successors 
constituted  it  a  privilege,  and  the  pontiffs  considered 
themselves  as  the  dispensers  of  crowns.  During  the 
whole  of  the  middle  ages,  the  imperial  consecration 
could  only  be  given  at  Rome,  and  from  the  hands  of 
the  Holy  Father,  More  than  one  war  arose  out  of  this 
prerogative. 

The  Empire  of  the  West  even  did  not  limit  the  views 
of  Charlemagne.  In  the  hope  of  placing  on  his  head  the 
crown  of  the  East  as  well  as  that  of  the  West,  he  sent 
ambassadors  to  Constantinople  to  demand  the  hand  of  the 
widowed  empress  Irene;  but  on  their  arrival  they  found 
that  Nicephorous  had  usurped  the  throne,  and  those  envoys 
were  dismissed  by  him  with  indignity;  an  insult  which 
Charlemagne  retaliated  by  treating  the  usurper's  ambas- 
sadors in  a  similar  fashion  three  years  later  at  Selz. 

Piratical  Descents  of  the  Normans. — In  extending  the 
outposts  of  his  empire  as  far  as  the  Eyder,  Charlemagne 


64  HISTORY    OF  GERMANY.  [PERIOD  III. 

thouglit  to  liave  sliiit  out  from  Germany  the  men  of  tlio 
north.  But  a  new  enemy  sprung  up  in  the  Normans,  a 
people  who  dwelt  on  the  northern  shores  of  the  Baltic, 
and  who,  under  the  conduct  of  a  brave  leader  named 
Godfrey,  manned  their  ships  and  made  a  piratical  descent 
upon  Friesland  in  808.  Tlie  emperor  led  an  army  against 
them,  but  finding  this  new  enemy  more  powerful  than 
he  expected,  he  prudently  made  peace  and  returned 
home. 

Results  of  the  Wars  of  Charlemagne.— Some  writers 

have  sought  to  represent  Charlemagne  as  a  royal  sage, 
a  pacific  prince,  who  only  took  up  arms  in  self-defence. 
Truth  compels  a  moi-e  faithful  though  less  flattering 
portraiture.  He  had  no  invasion  to  dread.  The  Saracens 
were  scattered,  the  Avars  (Bavarians)  weakened,  and  the 
Saxons  impotent  to  carry  on  any  serious  war  beyond  their 
forests  and  marshes.  If  he  led  the  Franks  beyond  their 
own  frontiers,  it  was  that  he  had,  like  so  many  other 
monarchs,  the  ambition  of  reigning  over  more  nations, 
and  of  leaving  a  high-sounding  name  to  posterity.  All 
that  he  attempted  beyond  the  Pyrenees  proved  abortive. 
It  would  have  been  of  greater  value  had  he  subdued  the 
Bretons,  so  far  as  to  have  made  them  sooner  enter  French 
nationality,  instead  of  contenting  himself  with  a  precarious 
submission.  The  conquest  of  the  Lombard  kingdom 
profited  neither  France  nor  Italy,  but  only  the  Pope, 
whose  political  position  it  raised,  and  whose  independence 
it  secured  for  the  future.  The  country  for  which  those 
long  wars  had  the  happiest  result,  was  that  one  which 
had  suffered  most  from  them,  Germany.  Before  Charle- 
magne, Almayne  was  still  Germany— that  is  to  say,  a 
shapeless  chaos  of  pagan  or  Christian  tribes,  but  all  bar- 
barian, enemies  of  one  another,  united  by  no  single  tie. 
There  were  Franks,  Saxons,  Thuringians,  and  Bavarians. 
After  him  there  was  a  German  people,  and  there  will  be 
a  kingdom  of  Germany.  It  was  great  glory  for  him  to 
have  created  a  people — a  glory  which  few  conquerors 
have  acquired;  for  they  destroy  much  more  than  they 
found.     His  reign  lasted  forty-four  ycai-s,  and  may  be 


768-919.] 


LOUIS  THE   DEBONNAIRE. 


65 


summed  up  as  an  immense  and  glorious  effort  to  bring  under 
subjection  the  barbarian  world  and  all  that  which  survived 
the  Roman  civilization;  to  put  an  end  to  the  chaos  born 
of  invasion,  and  to  found  a  settled  state  of  society  in  which 
the  authority  of  the  Emperor,  closely  united  to  that  of  the 
Pope,  should  maintain  order  alike  in  Church  and  State— 
a  very  difficult  problem,  which  it  was  given  Charlemaorne 
to  solve,  but  of  which  all  the  difficulties  did  not  become 
ai)parent  until  after  his  death.    The  work  of  Charlemagne, 
in  fiict,  did  not  last,  and  the  causes  of  its  fall  will  shortly 
be  shown.    The  name  of  this  powerful  though  rude  genius 
is  not  the  less  surrounded  with  a  lasting  glory;  and'^it  has 
remained  in  the  memory  of  nations  wSfth  that  of  three  or 
four  other  great  men  who  have  done,  if  not  always  the 
greatest  amount  of  good,  at  least  have  made  the  most 
noise  in  the  world.     As  to  Charlemagne,  the  amount  of 
good  accomplished  very  far  surpasses  that  which  was  only 
vain  renown  and  sterile  ambition.     He  created  modern 
Germany;  and  if  that  chain  of  nations,  the  links  of  which 
he  had  sought  to  rivet,  broke,  his  great  image  loomed  over 
the  feudal  times  as  the  genius  of  order,  continually  inviting 
the  dispersed  races  to  emerge  from  chaos,  and  seek  union 
and  peace  under  the  sway  of  a  strong  and  renowned 
chief. 

Charlemagne  died,  January  28,  814,  in  his  seventy- 
second  year,  and  was  buried  at  Aix-la-Chapelle,  in  a 
church  which  he  had  built  there  after  his  Italian  con- 
quests, in  the  Lombard  style.  Eginhard,  his  secretary 
and  friend,  who  wrote  his  life,  tells  us  that  he  was  con- 
siderably above  six  feet  in  height,  and  well  proportioned 
in  all  respects,  excepting  that  his  neck  was  somewhat  too 
short  and  thick.  His  imperial  crown,  which  is  still 
pi-eserved  at  Vienna,  would  fit  only  the  head  of  a  giant. 
His  air  was  dignified,  but  at  the  same  time  his  manners 
were  social.  Charlemagne  had  no  fewer  than  five  wives  • 
of  his  four  sons,  only  one  survived  him,  Louis,  the  youno-est 
and  most  incapable,  who  succeeded  him  on  the  imperial 
throne. 

Louis   the   Debonnaire  —  Dismemberment   of   the 


B 


6C 


HISTORY    OP  GERMANY.  [PERIOD  III. 


Empire  (814-840). — The  Cavlovingian  i-ace,  after  havins? 
produced,  by  an  example  very  rare  in  history,  four  great 
men  in  succession,  seemed  suddenly  to  lose  its  power. 
Louis,  the  Debomuiire,  was  far  from  resembling  liis 
ancestors.  The  gloi-y  of  that  line  had  departed  with 
Charlemagne.  That  great  man  had,  indeed,  been  able  to 
found  a  great  empire;  but  it  was  not  within  his  power 
to  give  those  races  of  different  origin,  language,  and 
customs,  interests  and  feelings  in  common — that  is  to  .Siiy, 
one  and  the  same  desire  to  remain  united  in  a  single  and 
great  political  family.  There  was  material,  but  no  moral 
unity.  But  material  order  is  not  security.  In  moral 
unity  alone  subsists  soundness  and  strength.  When 
Charlemagne  disappeared,  all  that  wljich  had  coloured 
with  a  semblance  of  honour  the  subjection  of  the  nations, 
blended  together  under  the  name  of  Franks,  became 
eftuced.  Whilst  the  private  ambition  of  the  princes  of 
the  imperial  family  aided  the  dismemberment  of  tho 
nations,  those  of  the  great  proprietor  and  the  imperial 
officers  likewise  favoured  the  division  of  fiefs. 

Charlemagne  himself  had  recognised  the  necessity  ot 
giving  satisfaction  to  the  nationalities  tlie  most  deeply 
concerned,  and  he  had  made  his  three  sons  kings.  Louis 
was  set  over  the  Aquitauians,  Pepin  over  the  Italians, 
Charles  over  the  Germans.  The  two  last  named  died 
before  their  father,  and  that  partition  was  annulled. 
Latei',  Charlemagne  alloted  Italy  to  Bernard,  son  of 
Pepin.  It  was  the  great  emperor's  intention  that  those 
kings  should  only  be  his  docile  lieutenants;  and  so  they 
were  as  long  as  he  lived.  But  when  the  strong  hand 
which  grasped  that  sheaf  of  nations  relaxed  in  death,  it 
broke  asunder  of  itself.  The  nations  desired  to  have 
kings,  but  kings  of  independence.  To  repress  sucli 
ambitious  desires,  an  energetic  will  was  requii-ed,  and  it 
was  to  one  of  the  feeblest  of  men  that  the  unwieldy 
inheritance  of  the  powerfid  master  of  the  West  had 
fallen. 

Louis  the  Debomiaire,  so  named  from  his  gentlene.sa 
and  good-nature,  was  then  thirty-six  years  old.     H«  was 


708-919.] 


LOUIS   THE   DEBONNAIRE. 


67 


pious^and  upright,  but  his  piety  was  that  of  a  monk  not 
of  a  king,  and  his  justice  easUy  degenerated  intoweaK 

remarkabT  Hef  \  ""^  ^"*''"°°'  '--vei^ls  vty 
lemaikable     He  has  been  represented  by  contemporarie^ 

as  of  handsome   person,   with   fine  features,  "0^*  of 
flume,  and  so  well  skilled  with  bow  and  lane;  ^ha   no  ° 
of  his  subjects  could  equal  him.     But  he  wa^  imbedk  in 

ne  was  easily  led  away.     In  sense  and  judgment  le  J)e- 
honnmre  ^v,.s   unhappily  for  himself  and  Ms  sublects 
misei-ably  deficient.     Such  a  sovereign  was  not  Scl  to 
mamtam  the  vast  empire  of  his  fSther.     The  ^Sest 

oTSXn.'"  "'^'  '°^^*^^^^-'  '^^'^  ''-  V  thfraSs 

Louis  began  his  reign  by  acts  of  reparation,  which 

must  have  seemed  to  the  old  counselloi^  of  Charlemalno 

Hb±lTtr*  ''  *'^  ^P*''"^'  "»^*^-  He  restoref  : 
ibeitv  and  their  possessions  a  host  of  individuals  who 
liad  been  depiived  of  both.  He  gave  back  to  the  Saxons 
and  Fneslanders  the  right  of  hetrship;  and  allowed  the 
Romans  to  institute  a  new  pope  in  816,  withm  t  waitL' 
for  the  imperial  confirmation.  When  Stephen  IV  afte" 
wards  came  from  Rome  to  consecrate  him,  he  suffered  that 

ot  the  Holy  Chair  to  appropriate  to  itself  the  right  of  dis- 
posing of  the  imperial  crewn:  "St.  Peter  glorifies  hb,  elf 

rtts?L*t!^'^^^"^^ 

ated  with  himself  in  the  empire  his  eld^est  son  LothX 
Hts  two  younger  sons,  Pepin  and  Louis,  he  made  Sn^" 
of  Aquitania  and  Bavaria.  The  unliapj  y  moiwch  sof 
became  aware  of  his  utter  incapacity  to  manage  the  affZ 
of  the  empire;  and,  four  years  aftel.  his  accession' tearV 
c2?  \y^''T''f\  ''ig'^ity.  and  full  of  remorse  foTtho 
crime  which  he  had  committed  in  causing  the  eves  of  his 
revolted  nephew,  Bernard,  king  of  It.aly  to  bTmt  out 
t«  proposed  to  abdicate  in' favour  of  Li/'.on^      £  Tw 


68 


HISTORY   OP   GERMANY.  [PERIOD  III. 


7G8919.] 


DEPOSITION   OF   Tim    EMPEtlOIl. 


CO 


pope  and  clergy  were  too  fully  aware  of  tlie  advantage 
afforded  them  by  his  inefficiency  to  permit  such  a  step; 
and  so  completely  was  he  terrified  by  their  threats,  that, 
instead  of  retiring  into  a  cloister  as  he  had  desired,  he 
was  obliged  to  content  himself  with  doing  open  penance 
before  the  Diet  of  the  empire  for  the  cruel  treatment  of 
his  nephew.  It  was  a  grand  spectacle,  assuredly,  that  of 
a  powerful  prince  publicly  avowmg  his  sins,  and  redeem- 
ing them  by  penitence.  That  spectacle  Theodosius  had 
presented  to  the  Roman  people;  but,  after  having  hum- 
bled himself  in  the  cathedral  at  Milan,  Theodosius  had 
risen  up  stronger  in  his  own  eyes  and  in  those  of  the 
people,  because  it  was  before  Heaven  and  under  remoi-se 
of  conscience  that  he  had  bowed  his  head.  Louis  went 
forth  from  the  palace  of  Attigny  lessened,  degraded, 
because  it  was  from  a  political  body,  of  an  authority  the 
rival  of  his  own,  that  he  had  received  his  absolution. 
Every  one  knew  thenceforward  all  that  might  be  dared 
against  such  a  man. 

Rebellion  of  the  elder  Sons  of  Louis  (829).— In  823 

there  was  born  to  the  emperor,  of  Judith  his  second  wife, 
a  son  named  Cliarles,  known  in  history  by  the  surname 
of  the  Bald,  That  queen  was  desirous  that  her  son 
should  possess  a  kingdom;  and  the  emperor,  annulling 
in  829  the  partition  of  817,  gave  him  Germany,  thus 
depriving  his  elder  sons  of  a  part  of  their  inheritance. 
This  provoked  the  resentment  of  those  princes;  they  rose 
in  rebellion  against  their  father,  and  the  rest  of  Louis's 
reign  was  nothing  but  a  succession  of  impious  contests 
with  his  turbulent  sons.  In  833  he  deposed  Pepin,  and 
gave  his  kingdom  of  Aquitaine  to  the  son  of  Judith. 

Deposition  of  the  Emperor  by  his  Elder  Sons.— Twice 

deposed  himself,  and  twice  restored  after  doing  penance 
a  second  time  at  Soissons,  Louis  only  emerged  from  the 
cloister,  for  which  he  was  so  well  fitted,  to  repeat  the 
same  faults.  In  his  blind  predilection  for  his  youngest 
born,  Charles,  he  was  unmindful  that  the  cause  of  all  his 
misfortunes  was  the  redistribution  of  the  pai*tition  he 
bad  made  between  his  other  sons.     Afterwards,  Louis 


had  Germany,  while  Burgundy,  Provence,  and  Septi- 
mania,  were  given  to  Charles.  Pepin  predeceased  his 
father  in  838.  Dissatisfied  with  the  share  allotted  to 
Charles,  Louis  took  up  arms  to  enforce  his  rights.  But 
the  life  of  his  father,  which  had  been  one  long  scene  of 
turbulence  and  misery,  was  rapidly  drawing  to  a  close. 
The  emperor  had  collected  his  forces,  and  marched  to  the 
banks  of  the  Bhine  to  meet  his  unnatural  son,  when 
mortal  sickness  compelled  him  to  halt  on  the  island  of 
Ingelheim.  The  priests,  who  were  called  to  administer 
the  last  rites  of  the  Church,  besought  him  to  forgive  his 
rebellious  child,  as  he  himself  hoped  for  forgiveness  at 
the  hands  of  his  heavenly  Father.  "  Freely,"  said  the 
poor  old  man,  *' freely  do  I  forgive  him  all  his  offences 
against  me;  but,  reverend  fathers,  fail  not  to  warn  him 
that  he  has  brought  down  my  grey  hairs  with  sorrow  to 
the  gi'ave.''  Soon  afterwards  he  became  speechless  and 
expired,  uttering  an  inarticulate  sound,  to  scare  away,  as 
his  superstitious  attendants  believed,  the  fiends  which 
hovered  round  his  bed.  Thus  died  Louis,  the  degenerate 
son  of  a  great  father,  on  the  20tli  June  840,  in  the  sixty- 
third  year  of  his  age,  and  twenty-seventh  of  his  leign. 
The  Middle  Ages,  more  regardful  of  the  virtues  of  the 
man  than  of  the  faults  of  the  prince,  have  been  full  of 
indulgence  for  the  memory  of  Louis  the  Good-natured. 

Battle  of  Fontenaille  (841).— Since  the  death  of 
Charlemagne  the  emi)ire  which  he  founded  had  heaved 
with  agitation,  like  a  heavy  body  in  the  throes  of  dissolu- 
tion. Each  })rince  struggled  for  the  possession  of  a  king- 
dom; and  each  great  division  of  the  empire  was  desirous 
of  having  a  king  in  order  to  form  a  state  by  itself.  The 
Austrasian  Franks,  who  were  only  defending  their  own 
cause  in  sustaining  that  of  the  empire,  were  seconded  by 
the  Italians,  who  had  adopted  the  new  emperors  as  the 
legitimate  heirs  of  Marcus  Aurelius  and  Trajan.  Lothaire, 
eldest  son  of  Louis  the  Good-natured,  was  their  chief.  He 
bore  the  title  of  emperor,  and  desired  to  consider  his 
l)rothers  merely  as  lieutenants.  Louis,  now  the  second 
brother,  sided  with  Charles;  and  theii'  subjects,  at  length 


^^  History  ov  GEinuNf.  [period  iit. 

wearied  with  these  peq)etiial  divisions,  met  to  decide  tho 
question  solemnly  by  force  of  arms.  A  terrible  battle 
was  fought  near  Fontenaille,"  in  Burgundy,  in  which 
100,000  men  are  said  to  have  fallen,  and  the  forces  of 
Lothaire  were  utterly  routed  (June  841).  Lothaire  fled 
precipitately,  whilst  Louis  and  Charles  deliberated  upon 
what  ought  to  be  done  further  against  the  defeated 
enemy.  Though  the  victory  remained  to  Charles,  his 
army  was  too  much  enfeebled  to  reap  further  advantage 
from  it.  Indeed,  thai  fatal  day  so  weakened  the  empire 
generally  that  bands  of  Normans,  like  famished  wolves, 
renewed  their  predatory  attacks,  and  were  allowed  to 
ravage  the  coasts  with  impunity. 

^  The  Strasburg  Oath.—The  battle  of  Foiitenaille  hav- 
ing proved  indecisive,  the  war  continued.  Louis  and 
Charles  met  at  Strasburg  to  reinforce  their  confederacy 
against  Lothaire,  and  swear  alliance  before  their  soldiers 
the  one  in  the  Teutonic  or  German  tongue,  the  other  in 
the  Komance  or  French  language.  The  Strasburg  oath 
IS  the  earliest  monument  of  the  French  language,  formed 
by  the  combination,  in  very  unequal  quantities,  of  threo 
idioms— Keltic,  Latin,  and  Gallic,  as  spoken  in  Gaul- 
the  Latin  greatly  predominating  over  the  Gallic,  and  the' 
Keltic  furnishing  only  a  small  number  of  words.  That 
renewed  alliance  was  celebrated  l^y  military  fetes,  to 
which  some  writers  have  attributed  the  origin  of  tourna- 
ments. 

The  Treaty  of  Verdun  (843) ;  Repartition  of  the 
^mpire.— It  being  evident  that  Louis  and  Charles  had 
hrmly  resolved  to  rend  asunder  the  empire,  Lothaire 
decided  to  treat  with  them.  The  three  brothers  met  at 
Verdun  m  Lorraine,  and  concluded  the  celebrated  treaty 
by  which  the  dominions  of  Charlemagne  were  divided 
into  three  portions.  The  three  principal  peoples  of  the 
empire,  the  Gemians,  Gallo-Franks,  and  Italians,  were 
thus  separated  forever;  the  first  under  Louis,  the  second 
under  Charles,  and  the  third  under  Lothaire.  The  eldest 
brother,  Lothaire,  obtained  the  title  of  emperor,  a  dicniitv 
without  power,  with  Italy,  Helvetia,  and  a  narrowlitrip 


7GS-919.]         KINGS  OF  THE  CARLOVINGIAN  RACE 


j^t 


ri 


of  land  westward  of  the  Hhine,  that  part  of  Austrasia  or 
eastern  France,  which,  from  the  word  Lotharingia,  or^. 
land  of  Lothaire,  is  now  called  Lorraine.  Charles  the 
Bald  had  the  title  of  King  of  France,  with  all  the  terri- 
tory west  of  Lorraine ;  and  Louis  (surnamed  the  German) 
received  for  his  share  the  whole  of  Germany,  with  the 
title  of  king.  This  treaty  reduced  Gaul  by  one-third,  and 
removed  from  it,  for  the  first  time,  its  natural  limit  of 
the  Rhine  and  the  Alps.  Nor  could  the  eftbrts  of  Francis 
I.  and  Henry  II.,  of  Richelieu  and  Louis  XIV.,  of  the 
Resolution  and  Napoleon  I.,  entirely  nullify  it.  Charles 
the  Bald,  who  signed  that  fatal  convention,  was  therefore, 
to  speak  correctly,  the  first  king  of  later  France,  as  Louis 
was  fii*st  king  of  Germany.  As  for  Lothaire,  he  con- 
tinued the  kingdom  of  Italy,  which  was  destined  so  often 
to  become  extinct  and  to  revive.  Thus  was  the  dismem- 
berment of  that  ponderous  empire  of  Charlemagne  rent 
asunder,  and  the  unity  of  Christian  Europe  dissolved  by 
the  treaty  of  Verdun.  Lorraine,  it  is  true,  became  after 
a  time  incorporated  with  the  other  portions;  but  France 
and  Germany,  from  that  day  to  the  present  (excej)t  during 
the  short  reign  of  Charles  the  Fat)  have  been  separate 
kingdoms.  The  province  of  Lorraine  has  been,  for  many 
centuries,  and  even  up  to  the  present  time,  an  apple  of 
discord  between  Germans  and  Frenchmen,  and  the  cause 
of  sanguinary  wars  amongst  them. 

German  Kings  of  the  Carlovingian  Race  (843-911).— 

Louis  the  German  was  an  athletic  jnince,  tall  and  of 
handsome  exterior,  with  a  bright  eye  and  penetrating 
intelligence,  favourable  to  civilization  and  the  sciences,  of 
which  he  gave  proof  by  founding  chairs  of  eloquence  at 
Frankfoi-t  and  Ratisbon.  But  he  had  many  wai*s  to 
sustain  for  the  preservation  of  his  kingdom,  on  account 
of  the  frequent  incursions  of  the  Sclavonians  on  the  east, 
and  the  Northmen  or  Danes  on  the  north-west.  The  first 
and  greatest,  but  not  the  only  embarrassment  to  Louis 
was  the  inroads  of  the  Normans  {Northmen),  a  fierce 
piratical  race,  as  savage  as  their  seas  and  coasts,  who  had 
taken  advantage  of  the  perturbed  state  of  the  late  dis- 


72 


niSTORr   OF   GERMANY.  [PERIOD  lit. 


7G8-919.] 


CHARLES   THE   FAT. 


73 


niembered  empire  to  cany  on  their  ravages  without  inter- 
mission.    Launching  their  swift-sailing  galleys  from  tho 
shores  of  Norway,   Sweden,  and  Denmark,  they  swept 
down  with  the  speed  of  the  wind  to  the  mouths  of  rivers, 
and  often  penetrated  \ery  far  into  the  interiors.     Thus, 
on  the  Seine  they  ascended    as    far  as  Paris;    on  the 
Garonne  as  far  as  Toulouse;  and  on  the  Ehine  as  far  as 
Cologne  and  Bonn.     In  their  earlier  depredations  they 
never  sought  to  acquire  territory,  but  contented  themselves 
with  pillaging  and  destroying  everything  near  the  coast, 
and  then  sailed  back  to  their  own  country  with  the  booty; 
but  after  these  sea-robbei-s  had  learned  the  use  of  horses, 
to  which  it  appears  they  were  at  first  unaccustomed,  th^>y 
were  enabled  to  carry  their  inroads  to  a  very  considerable 
distance,  and  spread  terror  into  the  very  heart  of  tho 
country.       They    usually   appeared    in    small    numbcri, 
because,  in  fact,  a  fleet  of  small  vessels  could  not  carry  a 
large  army;  but,  by  their  courage,  added  to  the  strength 
of  their  bodies  and  their  arms,  these  men  of  the  North 
prevailed  over  every  other  people,  and  none  could  ri\al 
them  in  brandishing  their  heavy  spears.     So  great  was 
the  terror  caused  by  these  marauders  that  a  petition  for 
Divine  protection  against  them  was  added  to  the  litany 
of  the  German  church  :    A   furore  Nortmannorumy  libera 
nos  Bomine  !    "  From  the  fury  of  the  Northmen,  O  Lord 
deliver  us  !  "     Every  year  they  attacked  Friesland ;  and 
one  of  their  princes  named  Rollo  established  an  indepen- 
dent kingdom  in  that  part  of  France  which  is  still  called 
Normandy.     In  the  interior  of  Germany  the  rebellious 
Sclavonian  tribes  were  kept  in  check  by  the  nobles;  but 
on  one  occasion,  it  is  recorded,  the  Saxons  and  Thur- 
ingians  allowed  the  barbarians  to  get  the  better  of  them, 
for  which  they  were  soundly  cudgelled  by  their  wives  on 
their  return  home. 

Louis  the  German  died  in  876,  having  governed  his 
kingdom  with  great  wisdom  and  prudence.  He  left  his 
dominions  among  his  three  ^ons,  Carloman,  Louis,  and 
Charles;  and  he  had  scarcely  been  consigned  to  his  tomb 
ere  Charles  the  Laid  marched  an  army  into  Germany  in 


hopes  to  dispossess  his  nephews;  but  he  found  them  well 
prepared  to  defend  their  territories;  and,  in  a  battle 
fought  at  Andernach  on  the  Hhine,  he  was  repulsed  and 
put  to  flight. 

Charles  the  Fat  (876-887).— The  two  elder  sons  of 
Louis  having  died  without  legitimate  issue,  the  youngest, 
Charles,  surnamed  the  Fat,  found  himself  in  possession  of 
the  whole  of  Germany  and  Lorraine;  and  in  884  the 
French,  dissatisfied  with  their  young  king,  Charles  the 
fSitnplej  whom  they  considered  as  too  young  to  succeed  to 
the  crown,  being  only  five  years  old,  and  anxious  to  have 
a  prince  who  could  protect  them  against  the  repeated 
invasions  of  the  Danes,  dfl^ered  him  the  crown  of  France; 
thus  the  two  kingdoms  were,  for  a  short  time,  reunited 
under  one  sovereign.  Proud  and  cowardly,  and  rendered 
contemptible  by  his  gluttony,  Charles  the  Fat  was  so 
regardless  of  his  French  subjects  that  he  did  not  go  near 
them,  but  left  them  to  defend  themselves  as  well  as  they 
could  against  the  Normans.  He  had  already  ceded  Fries- 
land  to  Godfrey,  one  of  their  chiefs,  and  afterwards 
caused  him  to  be  murdered.  Another,  the  famous  Eollo, 
a  man  of  gigantic  stature,  who  always  fought  on  foot, 
being  unable  to  find  any  horse  capable  of  carrying  his 
weight,  took  Eouen,  Pontoise,  and  slew  the  Duke  of 
Mans.  On  the  ai)proach  of  his  countrymen,  the  old 
pirate  Hastings  hastened  to  join  them,  and  both  together 
marched  upon  Paris,  which  they  had  already  thrice  pil- 
laged. But  Paris,  which  was  then  contained  within  the 
narrow  limits  of  the  little  island  on  the  Seine,  had  been 
strongly  fortified ;  and  its  inhabitants,  encouraged  by  their 
bishop,  Gozlin,  and  by  their  count.  Elides,  son  of  Robert 
the  Strong,  withstood  a  year's  siege.  At  length,  Charles 
the  Fat,  at  the  earnest  instance  of  Eudes,  a^^peared  before 
Paris  with  an  army.  The  Parisians,  full  of  ardour,  were 
awaiting  the  signal  to  begin  the  battle,  when  they  learned, 
to  their  great  disgust,  that  Charles  had  purchased  a  dis- 
graceful peace  by  paying  a  large  sum  of  money  to  the 
pirates,  whom  they  had  half- conquered,  and  further, 
allowed  them  to  winter  in  Burgundy;  that  is  to  say,  to 


74 


HISTORY  OP   GERMANr. 


[period  III. 


7G8  919.]    ARXULPH   CROWNED   EMPEROR   OF   ROME. 


75 


ravage  that  province.  The  Parisians,  however,  refused 
to  join  in  the  disgraceful  treaty;  and  when  the  Norman 
galleys  sought  to  clear  the  bridges,  they  opposed  their 
passage.  The  pirates  were,  therefore,  compelled  to  drag 
their  flotilla  a  long  way  ashore  past  the  heroic  city  (Nov. 
886),  whose  courage  Sens  in  turn  imitated,  for  it  braved 
the  Normans  during  six  months. 

Deposition  and  Death  of  Charles  the  Fat  (887-888). 

The  contrast  between  the  courage  of  that  small  city 

and  the  cowardice  of  the  emperor  turned  every  one 
against  that  unworthy  prince.  He  was  deposed  at  the 
Diet  of  Tribur,  near  Oppenheim,  became  insane,  and 
would  have  wanted  the  necessaries  of  life  had  it  not  been 
for  the  compassion  of  Liutbart,  bishop  of  Mainz.  The 
wretched  Charles  the  Fat  died  in  888.  From  that  period 
Germany,  Italy,  and  France,  have  never  had  a  common 
master.  The  Carlovingian  empire  was  irrevocably  dis- 
membered, its  relics  forming  seven  kingdoms:  France, 
Navarre,  Burgundy  {cis-Jurane),  Burgundy  (trans- Jurane), 
Lorraine,  Italy,  and  Germany.  Three  quarters  of  a 
century  only  had  elapsed  since  the  vaults  of  his  basilica 
at  Aix-la-Chapelle  had  entombed  the  body  of  the  famous 
founder  of  the  West,  and  already  neither  empire  nor 
emperor  remained. 

Arnnlph  (887-899).— Each  nation  now  elected  its  own 
king.  In  Germany  Charles  the  Fat  Avas  succeeded  by  a 
natural  son  of  his  brother  Carloman,  a  gi-andson  of  Louis 
the  German,  Arnnlph  (or  Arnould).  Arnulph  Avas  a 
brave  and  worthy  king.  He  defeated  the  Normans  near 
Louvain,  in  the  Low  Countries,  where  they  had  formed 
an  entrenched  camp;  and  that  victory  spread  his  reputa- 
tion throughout  Germany;  for  the  Normans  were  the 
bravest  warriors  of  all  the  northern  races,  and  until  then 
they  had  never  been  known  to  flee  before  an  enemy. 

War  with  Zwentibold. — About  the  same  time,  Zwen- 
tibold,  having  erected  for  himself  in  Moravia  a  great 
power,  ArnulJf,  to  gain  his  friendship,  gave  him  the  duchy 
of  Bohemia  to  hold  in  fief,  and  even  chose  him  as  god- 
father to  his  son,  also  named  Zwentibold.     He  had  soon, 


however,  to  sustain  against  that  Sclavonian  prince,  who 
sought  to  be  independent,  a  very  dangerous  war.  Aniulph 
had  then  recourse  to  the  Magyare,  called  by  the  Germans 
Hungarians  (strangers),  or  Huns;  being,  as  it  was  be- 
lieved, descendants  of  the  ancient  people  who  bore  that 
name.  These  barbarians,  who  were  still  heathens,  had 
first  been  called  in  by  Leo,  Emperor  of  the  East,  to  assist 
him  against  the  Bulgarians.  They  had  since  migrated  to 
the  West,  and,  having  entered  Moravia,  overthrew  the 
power  of  Zwentibold,  and  established  themselves  therein, 
Arnulph  crowned  Emperor  of  Rome  (895). — At  the 
invitation  of  the  Pope,  Arnulph  marched  into  Italy,  where 
several  princes  were  contending  for  the  imperial  crown. 
He  took  Bergamo  by  storm,  and  penetrated  as  far  as 
Rome ;  but  his  army  was  so  weakened  by  bad  weather 
and  sickness  that  he  dared  not  venture  to  assault  a  city 
so  strongly  fortified;  and  hearing,  moreover,  that  the 
ICing  of  France  was  marching  against  him,  he  was  com- 
pelled to  return  into  Germany.  The  next  year,  however 
(89G),  he  again  crossed  the  Alps  and  marched  to  Home, 
where  he  found  the  city  gates  closed  against  him.  Every 
attempt  to  storm  the  walls  provmg  fruitless,  and  tlie 
Komans  having  overwhelmed  the  German  soldiers  with 
insults,  Arnulph  was  about  to  retreat;  when  the  soldiers, 
without  waiting  for  orders,  in  an  excess  of  rage,  attacked 
the  gates,  bridged  the  moats,  scaled  the  ramparts,  and 
carried  the  Eternal  City  by  assault.  Entering  Rome  in 
triumph,  Arnulph  received  the  imperial  crown  from  the 
hands  of  the  Pope.  It  was  compulsory  upon  the  Roman 
people  that  they  should  swear  fidelity  to  him.  But  that 
people  were  strangers  to  the  virtue  of  fidelity;  and 
because  they  had  been  unable  to  resist  the  Germans  by 
overt  force,  they  had  recourse  to  poison.  Arnulph, 
attacked  by  sudden  sickness,  returned  to  Germany,  where 
he  died,  in  899,  of  a  lingering  malady,  the  effect,  doubt- 
less, of  slow  poison  administered  by  the  Italians;  re- 
gretted by  all  Germany,  and  much  too  soon  for  liis 
emi)ire.  He  was  yet  young,  and  never  had  the  country 
greater  need  of  a  vigorous  arm. 


J 


76 


HISTORY  OF   GERMAXY.  [PERIOD  III. 


Extinction  of  the  Carlo vingians  in  Germany  (911). 

— The  successor  of  Arniilph  was  his  son  Louis,  surnamed 
the  Child  J  a  boy  of  six  years  old,  wlio  bore  the  title  of 
King  of  Germany  from  899  to  911.     Those  were,  pro- 
bably, the  most  deplomble  years  in  the  annals  of  tbo 
nation.     Every  year,  almost,  the  Magyars  threw  them- 
selves suddenly  and  in  mass  upon  one  province  or  other, 
wrapping  it  in  blood  and  fire,  and  canying  back  with 
them  thousands  of  the  inhabitants  as  slaves.     The  Ger- 
mans, although  brave,  not  being  accustomed  to  that  kind 
of  war,  were  unable  to  defend  themselves;  the  more  so 
that  they  had  no  fortified  cities  in  which  their  women 
and  children  could  seek  refuge.     Bavaria  was  the  first  to 
become  a  prey  to   their   devastations;    its    counts   and 
nobles  were  cut  to  pieces.     In  the  following  years  it  was 
the  turn  of  Saxony  and  Thuringia;  and,  in  the  two  last, 
that  of  Franconia  and  Suabia.     These  misfortunes  exem- 
])lified  the  truth  of  the  words  of  Solomon :  "  Woe  unto 
the  land  the  king  of  which  is  a  child  !  "     At  length,  for- 
tunately for  himself  and  for  his  country,  Louis  the  Child 
died  in  911.     With  him  expired  the  race  of  the  Carla 
vingians  in  Germany,  and  the  monarchy  became  elective. 
Conrad  L  of  Franconia  (911-918).— On  the  death  of 
Louis  the   Child  the  chief  magnates  of  the  German  race 
met  together  to  choose   from  amongst  their  worthiest 
princes  him  to  whom  should  be  given  the  title  of  king. 
Their   choice   fell   upon  Otto    the   Illustrious^  Duke  of 
Saxony  and  Thuringia,  descended  from  the  Carlo  vingians 
on  the  maternal  side,  and  who,  by  the  power  of  his  house, 
as  well  as  by  his  great  age  and  wisdom,  was  held  in  high 
consideration   by  all   the   rest.     But  Otto  refused   the 
crown,  the  burthen  of  which  he  judged  to  be  too  heavy 
for  a  man  of  his  years,   and    advised    them  to    choose 
Conrad,  Duke  of  Franconia. 

Conrad  has  been  represented  as  a  prince  of  great  merit 
in  peace  and  war :  brave,  prudent,  gentle,  and  generous. 
His  first  care  was  to  restore  to  royalty  its  vanished  pres- 
tiize,  reuardinu  it  as  the  fii*st  foundation  of  order  for  the 
whole  empire.     But  at  first  the  disorder  was  too  great, 


768-919.] 


CONRAD   I.    OF   FRANCONIA. 


77 


and,  besides,  his  reign  was  too  short  for  him  to  succeed 
completely.     However,  by  energetic  measures  and  timely 
concessions,  general  tranquillity  and  the  imperial  dignity 
were  partially  maintained.     But  Conrad  saw  clearly  that 
his  task  had  become  very  difficult,  that  the  power  of  tho 
Duke  of  Franconia   alone  was  insufiicient  to  keep   in 
check  the  great  princes,  already  become  too  powerful; 
and  that  larger  forces  than  he  could  conmiand  were  neces- 
sary to  protect  the  empire  against  the  Sclavonians  and 
Hungarians,  who  incessantly  recommenced  their  inva- 
sions.    When,  therefore,  Conrad,  who  had  been  wounded 
in  his  last  expedition  into  Bavaria,  lay  languishing  at 
Limbourg,    upon   the   Lahn,  and   felt  the  approach  of 
death,  he  remembered  the  example  which  Otto  the  Illus- 
trious had  given  him;  and,  putting  aside  all  rivalry,  with 
liis  last  breath  recommended  as  his  successor  Henry  of 
Saxony,  whom  he  believed  to  be  the  only  prince  capable 
of  holding  the  reins  of  government  in  those  troublous 
times,     lie  died  in  December  9 1 8. 


FOURTH   PERIOD. 

FROM     HENRY     I.     TO     RUDOLPIIUS     OF     IIArSBURG. — 

(919-1273). 
{The  Saxo))y  Sicahian,  and  Hohenstavf^n  Houses.) 

Henry  L,   surnamed  the  Fowler  (919-936). —The 

accounts  left  us  of  the  election  of  Henry  are  widely 
varied.  If  we  follow  those  of  the  ancient  writers,  it 
would  appear  that  the  princes  and  nobles  of  Franconia, 
following  the  advice  of  Conrad  their  late  king,  assembled 
at  Fritzlar,  at  the  commencement  of  the  year  919,  and 
chose  for  their  king  Duke  Henry,  in  presence  of  the 
united  Saxons  and  Franconians.  It  is  true  that  a  gi-eat 
many  writers  relate  how  the  envoys  who  went  to  offer 
Henry  the  crown  found  him  in  his  territories  of  the 
Harz,  occupied  at  the  moment  of  their  arrival  with  snar- 
ing birds;  from  a  fondness  for  which  pastime  he  obtained 
the  surname  of  the  Fowler  {Ilenricus  Aucejis).  Whatever 
may  have  been  the  circumstances  of  his  election,  the 
Archbishop  of  Mainz  offered  to  consecrate  him  King,  but 
Henry  declared  it  was  sufficient  that  he  was  called  to 
rule  over  Germany  by  God's  grace  and  the  choice  of  the 
people;  and,  therefore,  he  entreated  the  prelate  to  reserve 
the  holy  oil  for  some  more  pious  monarch. 

Lorraine  reunited  to  Germany  (922).— Some  internal 
dissensions  troubled  the  beginning  of  his  reign,  but 
proved  of  little  consequence;  for  the  hopes  of  Otto  the 
Illustrious  and  King  Conrad  were  fulfilled,  and  Saxony 
and  Franconia  remained  in  amicable  relation  with  one 
another.  The  dukes  of  Swabia  and  Bavaria,  on  their 
return  from  Hungary,   refused  him  ol>edieuce;  but  ho 


919-1273.]    NINE   YEARS    TRUCE   WITH   HUNGARIANS. 


79 


recalled  them  prom^Hly  to  their  duty  by  force  of  arms, 
and  retained  them  in  it  by  the  gentler  power  of  words 
of  peace,  so  that,  in  921,  all  Germany  obeyed  King 
Henry;  and  after  that  date  his  empire  was  no  further 
troubled  by  any  intestine  war;  but  it  was  only  after 
fighting  several  battles  that  he  conquered  Lorraine,  which 
always  kept  balancing  between  France  and  Germany. 
Later,  he  strengthened  his  union  with  it  by  giving  his 
daughter,  Gerberge,  in  marriage  to  its  duke,  Giselbert; 
and,  during  seven  centuries,  that  fine  country  remained 
reunited  to  Germany. 

The  Nine  Years'  Truce  with  the  Hungarians  (923- 

932). — Henry  was  then  able  to  occupy  himself  with  his 
enemies  without  the  realm,  the  Sclavonians  and  Hunga- 
rians. They  thought  themselves  able  to  continue  their 
manoeuvres  with  the  German  states  as  formerly;  but 
found,  on  their  rencontre  with  Henry,  an  adversary  who 
arrested  them.  On  the  first  occasion,  it  is  true,  Henry 
was  compelled  to  give  way  to  their  fury,  and  they  carried 
their  ravages  into  the  heart  of  Saxony.  However,  ho 
had  the  good  fortune,  one  day  when  he  made  a  sortie 
upon  them  from  the  castle  of  Werle,  near  Goslar,  to  takt. 
prisoner  one  of  the  most  distinguished  of  their  princes; 
and,  for  his  ransom,  a  suspension  of  arms  was  agreed 
upon  for  nine  years,  during  which  the  Hungarians  swore 
that  they  would  not  enter  Germany.  Probably  they 
reckoned  upon  doubly  recuperating  themselves  for  the 
time  thereby  lost;  but  Henry  employed  so  usefully  those 
nine  years  in  active  preparations  to  meet  the  enemy,  that 
when  they  returned,  they  found  Germany  quite  changed. 
Tlie  Hungarians  were  entirely  ignorant  of  the  art  of 
besieging  fortified  places;  and  when  they  were  unable 
to  make  a  rapid  booty  in  an  expedition,  they  did  not 
willingly  return.  It  was  especially  in  his  hereditary 
territories  that  Henry  caused  the  fortresses  and  walled 
towns  to  be  strengthened;  for,  accustomed  to  despise  any 
defence  save  that  of  their  swords  and  shields,  the  Ger- 
mans had  suffered  the  few  strongholds  they  possessed  to 
iuU  into  ruiu.     But,  in  order  to  gavriwn  those  place«,  U« 


80 


HISTORY   OF   GERMANY.  [PERIOD  IV. 


decreed  that  every  ninth  man  liable  for  military  service 
should  leave  the  cultivation  of  the  soil,  and  join  in  the 
defence  of  the  fortresses;  that  he  should  thei-ein  occupy 
himself  with  all  the  constructions  necessary  to  offer,  in 
case  of  invasion,  a  secure  asylum;  and  that  the  rest 
should  give  for  that  purpose,  annually,  a  third  of  their 
agricultural  produce,  to  be  stored  as  provision  for  the 
garrison  in  time  of  danger. 

Frontier  Campaigns  (928-929).— Henry,  after  having 
passed  some  years  in  these  preparations,  resolved,  in 
order  to  exercise  his  warriors,  to  reduce  to  reason  the 
peoples  bordering  on  Germany  to  the  north  and  east; 
who,  if  they  were  not  as  formidable  as  the  Hungarians, 
were  not  less  hostile.  He  defeated  the  Sclavonians  in 
the  marches  of  Brandebourg,  the  Hevelles  upon  the 
Havel,  and  conquered  Brennabourg  (Brandebourg),  which 
he  besieged  during  a  winter  so  severe  that  his  army 
encamped  upon  the  frozen  Havel.  He  afterwards  sub- 
dued the  Daleminziens  who  dwelt  on  the  banks  of  the 
Elbe,  from  Meissen  as  far  as  Bohemia.  Henry  under- 
took  also  an  expedition  against  the  Bohemians,  besieged 
their  Duke  Wenzeslas  in  Prague,  his  capital,  and  forced 
him.  to  submission.  Since  then  the  kings  of  Germany  have 
always  demanded  homage  from  the  dukes  of  Bohemia. 

Sanguinary  Conflict  with  the  Hungarians  (933).— 

Meanwhile,  the  nine  years'  truce  with  the  Hungarians 

had  expired,  and  they  sent  a  deputation  into  Germany 

to  demand  the  ancient  tribute  which  that  country  had 

shamefully  paid  them.     But  Henry,  to  show  them  in 

what  contempt  thev  were  held  by  the  Germans,  sent  to 

the  deputies,  by  way  of  tribute,  a  mangy  dog,  with  ears 

and  tail  cropped.     It  was  an  ancient  custom,  exceedingly 

insulting  to  those  who  received  the  gift.     The  bellicose 

Hungarians  grew  furious  at  it,  and  made  their  prepara- 

tions°to   wreak   a   terrible   vengeance.       Onward  they 

marched  next  year  (933)  into  Germany  with  two  armies, 

thirsting  for  battle.     One  force,  attacked  by  the  Saxons 

and  Thuririgians,  not  far  from  Sondershausen,  had  its 

leaders  slain,  and  was  itself  cut  to  pieces.     The  other 


919  1273.]        EXPEDITION  AGAINST  THE   DANES. 


81 


and  the  strongest  force,  on  reaching  the  Saale,  learned  in 
the  night  the  arrival  of  the  king,  and  the  destruction  of 
their  compatriots.      The  Hungarians,  terror-stricken  at 
the  news,  abandoned  their  camp,  and  lighted  huge  fires 
on  the  heights  as  signals  to  reassemble  those  who  were 
dispersed  in  search  of  pillage.    Henry,  who  overtook  them 
next  morning,  having  exhorted  his  soldiers  in  a  few  fiery 
words  to  avenge  that  day  their  devasted  country,  kins- 
men massacred  or  carried  into  slavery,  unfurled  before 
them  the  banner  of  the  Archangel  Michael,  and  charged 
the  Hungarians  with  the  cry  of  Kyrie  eleison  (Lord  have 
mercy!)  which  was  echoed  back  by  the  terrible  llui ! 
Ilui!   of  the  barbarians.     After  a  bloody  conflict  the 
whole   army  of  the   invaders  was   either   slain   or  put 
to  flight;  and  Henry,  falling  on  his  knees,  with  all  his 
soldiers,  offered  up  a  solemn  thanksgiving  to  Heaven  for 
the  victory.     The  anniversary  of  this  deliverance  from 
the  Hungarians  is  still  celebrated  in  the  parish  church  of 
Keuschberg,  and  the  name  of  King  Henry  acclaimed 
therein  by  all  those  assembled. 

:  Expedition  against  the  Danes  (934).--In  934,  Henry 
covered  himself  with  glory  in  an  expedition  against  the 
Danes,  who  were  ravaging  the  coasts  of  the  Frisons  and 
Saxons.  He  entered  their  country  at  the  head  of  his 
army,  forced  their  King,  Gorm,  to  make  peace,  established 
at  Sleswig  a  strong  barrier,  and  even  founded  a  mar- 
graviat,  which  he  peopled  with  a  colony  of  Saxons.  One 
of  the  members  of  the  royal  family  was  even  converted  to 
Christianity;  either  Knut  the  eldest,  or  perhaps  Harold, 
the  second  son  of  Gorm.  Thus  Henry  I.,  before  the  end 
of  his  glorious  career,  had  the  satisfaction  of  seeing  those 
men  of  the  North,  who  during  a  century  had  terrified 
Europe,  retreat  before  him  within  their  confines,  and 
recognise  his  power. 

In  the  summer  of  936,  Henry  went  from  Erfurth  to 
Memleben.  There  he  was  struck  a  second  time  with 
apoplexy;  and,  after  having  taken  farewell  of  his  wife, 
he  died,  2nd  July  936,  at  the  age  of  sixty,  in  presence  of 
his  sons  and  several  princes  of  the  empire, 

F 


82 


HISTORY  OF   GERMANY.  [PERIOD  IV. 


Otho  L,  surnamed  the  Lion  (036-973).— As,  before 
deatli  had  closed  the  eyes  of  Henry,  the  princes  in 
the  Diet  had  in'omised  to  acknowledge  Otho,  his  son,  as 
his  successor  to  the  empire,  nothing  more  was  needed 
than  to  confirm  that  acknowledgment;  and  it  was  made 
in  a  great  assembly  at  Aix,  where  Otho  was  solemnly 
crowned.  He  was  then  in  his  twenty-fourth  year.  Of 
lofty  stature  and  truly  regal  appearance,  wide-chested 
and  vigorous,  with  well-opened  and  expressive  eyes,  and 
lon^  fair  hair  fallinc:  over  his  shoulders,  all  seemed  to 
announce  that  he  was  born  to  reign. 

Those  days  of  feasts  and  ceremonies  having  passed, 
Otho  soon  proved,  by  the  vigour  of  his  government,  that, 
in  his  case,  exterior  appearance  was  not  deceptive.  But 
Otho  did  not  gain  over  all  hearts  that  power  which  his 
father  had  obtained.  He  was  surnamed  the  Lion  because 
of  his  proud  and  formidable  mien,  and  because  that,  like 
the  lion,  he  overcame  all  his  enemies  however  numerous, 
and  as  often  as  they  presented  themselves,  as  well  in  the 
interior  of  Germany  as  without.  He  was  a  great  and 
powerful  monarch,  who  speedily  became  the  first  Christian 
prince.  He  placed  upon  his  head  the  imperial  crown  of 
Charlemagne,  and  rendered  the  empire  and  the  German 
name  so  great  among  all  nations  that  none  dared  compare 
with  him.  An  ordinary  man  never  obtains  such  results; 
for  if,  in  the  Emperor  Otho,  too  much  pride  made  him 
many  enemies;  if,  in  his  wrath,  his  too  passionate  tem- 
perament caused  him  to  commit  acts  of  severity  against 
his  adversaries,  there  was  found  also  in  him,  as  in  the 
lion,  to  which  he  was  compared,  compassion  for  the  weak- 
ness, and  indulgence  for  the  advei'sary  who  asked  for 
pardon.  For  the  rest,  his  anger  and  severity  never  car- 
ried him  beyond  the  bounds  of  justice.  The  law  with 
him  was  always  stronger  than  everything  else. 

Germany,  which,  previously  to  these  two  great  mon- 
arclis,  was  going  rapidly  to  ruin,  torn  by  intestine  dissen- 
sions, and  was  without  suiTounded  by  enemies  who 
despised  her,  devastated  her  by  their  rapine  whenever  it 
seemed  fitting  to  them,  now  appeared  suddenly  to  raise 


019-1273] 


OTHO   I. 


83 


her  head  like  a  new  empire.     Not  only  had  enemies  been 
overthrown,  but  countries  had  been  conquered;  and  those 
who  had  held  her  in  contempt  now  bowed  theii^  heads 
before  her.  Otho  showed  so  much  confidence  in  his  strength 
that,  even  shortly  after  he  had  ascended  the  throne  ""in 
order  to  devote  himself  entii^ely  to  royalty,  he  not  only 
despoiled  himself  of  the  duchy  of  Saxony,  but  even  gave 
It  to  the  bravest  wamor  of  his  family,  to  Herman  Bil- 
limg,  who  had  greatly  distinguished  himself  in  the  war 
against  Boleslas,  duke  of  Bohemia.     Otho  w^as  content 
therefore,  to  bear  the  single  title  of  Emperor  of  Germany 
a  title,  dotibtless,  very  fiir  greater  than  that  of  duke,  when 
tJie  bearer  knows  how  to  make  it  respected  by  the  lofti- 
ness of  his  genius;  but  also  much  more  insignificant  and 
Avithout  real  power  if  deficient  in  character  to  rule.     The 
dignity  of  a  German  King  and  Emperor  rested  on  public 
esteem,  his  power  depended  upon  the  people,  his  grandeur 
was  founded  upon  the  prestige  with  which  the  imperial 
dignity  invested  him;  and  that  veneration  which,  when 
the  Emperor  possessed  it,  rendered  him  the  gi-eatest  sove- 
reign  m  Christendom.       Otho  thought  that  he  mi^rht 
acquire  it  and  preserve  it  by  himself.    In  truth,  at  the  com- 
mencement of  his  reign,  many  nobles  revolted  against 
him;    even  his  half-brother,  Tancmar,  and  Henry,  his 
younger  brother,  who  believed  that  he  had  more"  riglit 
than  himself  to  the  imperial  dignity,  because  he  was  born 
when  his  father  Henry  was  already  King;  whilst  Otho. 
on  the  contrary,  was  born  when  his  father  was  as  yet 
only  duke.     But  the  Franks  and  Lorrainers,  who  could 
not  bear  that  a  Saxon  should  i:)ossess  the  crown,  were 
pacified  only  by  dint  of  arms;  Tancmar  was  slain  in  the 
fight;  and  Henry,  who  had  made  common  cause  with  them, 
came  to  throw  himself  at  his  brother's  feet  in  i^enitential 
garments,  at  Frankfort,   on  the  Christmas  day  of  042, 
during    midnight    mass,    and    received   a   full    pardon' 
although  he  had  thrice  revolted  against  him,  and  had 
oven  attempted  his  life.     Still  further,  Otho  gave  him 
that  same  year  the  duchy  of  Bavaria,  which  was  vacant; 
find  after  that  they  remained  fiiithfully  united  until  death. 


84 


HISTORY   OF   GERMANY.  [PERIOD  IV. 


The  Duke  of  Boliemia  also  bade  defiance  to  the  Empe- 
ror; whilst,  to  add  to  his  embarrassment,  the  old  enemies 
of  the  empire,  the  Hungarians,  enconraged  by  these 
appearances  of  disaffection,  entered  the  south  of  Germany, 
which  they  ravaged  as  far  as  the  frontiers  of  France. 
But  the  new  sovereign  proved  himself  worthy  of  the  con- 
fidence which  his  renowned  father,  as  well  as  the  electors, 
had  reposed  in  him;  and  the  Duke  of  Bohemia  was  at 
length  subdued  after  a  war  which  had  lasted  nearly 
fourteen  years. 

Foreign  Wars  of  Otho. — Having  thus  settled  the  in- 
ternal aflfairs  of  his  kingdom,  Otho  had  leisure  to  carry 
on  his  operations  against  the  Sclavonians  and  Danes,  who, 
after  long  and  sanguinary  wars,  were  made  tributaries  to 
the  German  crown ;  but  scarcely  had  these  enemies  heen 
overcome  when  he  was  called  to  take  a  part  in  the  affairs 
of  Italy.  That  unhappy  country  was  now  in  a  state  of 
indescribable  confusion.  Since  the  extinction  of  the 
Carlovingians,  numerous  pretenders  to  the  sovereignty 
had  everywhere  caused  disorder  and  ruined  the  country. 
Berengar,  duke  of  Ivrea,  had  by  violence  possessed  him- 
self of  regal  authority;  and,  to  strengthen  himself  in  it, 
had  striven  to  compel  the  young  and  beautiful  widow  of 
the  last  King,  Lothaiie,  whom  he  had  himself  put  to 
death,  to  become  the  wife  of  his  son  Adelberg.  Adelaide 
firmly  refused,  and  seized  a  favourable  opportunity  to 
take  flight.  But,  having  already  reached  Como,  she  was 
overtaken  and  brought  back.  Willa,  the  infamous  wife 
of  Berengar,  struck  the  noble  daughter  of  the  Burgundian 
kings,  trod  her  under  foot,  dragged  her  by  the  hair  of 
her  head,  tore  off  all  her  ornaments,  and  afterwards  had 
her  thrown  into  a  dungeon  of  a  strong  fortress  on  the 
Lago  di  Garda.  From  this  captivity  she  was  rescued  by 
the  exertions  of  a  pious  and  faithful  monk,  named  Martin, 
Avho,  touched  by  her  sufferings,  undermined  the  founda- 
tions of  the  castle  until  he  reached  her  prison,  released 
the  princess,  and  conveyed  her  in  a  fisherman's  boat 
across  the  lake.  For  some  time  she  wandered  up  and 
down  the  opposite  shore  in  the  most  pitiable  distress, 


919-1273.]        VICTORY   OVER   THE   HUNGARIANS. 


85 


travelling  by  night  and  concealing  herself  by  day  among^ 
reeds  or  standing  corn ;  until  at  length  she  reached  the 
cottage  of  a  fisherman,  where  she  remained  for  some  days 
disguised  in  male  apparel;  whilst  brother  Martin  hastened 
to  seek  succour  from  her  friends.  The  margrave,  Azzo, 
hurried  to  place  her  in  safety,  and  carried  her  to  his  castle 
of  Canossa,  which  was  immediately  attacked  by  her  cruel 
])ersecutor;  and  the  besieged,  terrified  at  the  appearance 
of  a  force  so  much  superior  to  any  that  they  could  raise, 
at  once  decided  on  calling  in  the  assistance  of  Otho,  and 
sent  messengers  to  ofier  him  the  crown  of  Italy,  and  the 
hand  of  the  widowed  queen.  Nothing  could  be  more 
acceptable  to  Otho  than  this  proposal;  for  the  death  of 
his  wife  Edith,  daughter  of  Edmund,  King  of  England, 
had  left  him  at  liberty  to  contract  another  marriage ;  and 
no  alliance  could  bo  more  advantageous  than  one  which 
would  make  him  lord  of  the  fair  realms  of  Italy.  A 
persecuted  woman  to  deliver,  and  so  gi^and  a  prize  attached 
to  that  adventurous  attempt,  were  motives  more  than 
sufliicient  to  excite  to  enthusiasm  the  chivalrous  spirit  of 
the  Emperor.  He  therefore  crossed  the  Alps  in  951,  raised 
the  siege  of  Canossa,  and,  carrying  off  Adelaide  in 
triumph,  married  her  at  Pavia,  where  he  caused  himself 
at  the  same  time  to  be  crowned  King  of  the  Lombards. 
He  aftei'wards  became  reconciled  with  Berengar,  and 
gave  him  Italy  as  a  fief  under  the  suzerainty  of  Germany. 

Victory  over  the  Hungarians  on  the  Lech  (955). — On 

his  return  to  Germany  with  his  young  bride,  Otho  cher- 
ished the  belief  that  peace  and  tranquillity  were  estab- 
lished on  a  basis  which  might  bid  defiance  to  the  assaults 
of  disaffection.  But  these  hopes  were  miserably  frus- 
trated. The  old  enemies  and  devastators  of  Germany^ 
the  Hungarians,  imited  with  the  Sclavonians,  becamo 
anxious  to  try  whether  they  could  not  prove  more  fortu- 
nate with  the  son  of  Henry  the  Fowler  than  they  had 
been  with  the  father.  They  found,  moreover,  a  favour- 
able opportunity  in  the  dissensions  and  internal  troubles 
excited  by  Otho's  own  son,  Ludolph,  duke  of  Swabia, 
discontented  at  his  father's  marriage  with  Adelaide,  sm^ 


^^  History  op  Germany.  [period  iv. 

his  kinsman  Conrad,  duke  of  Franconia  and  Lorraine, 
who  forgot  themselves  so  far  as  to  invite  tlie  Hungarians 
to  enter  the  country.  For  some  time  Ludolph  carried  on 
this  unnatural  strife  in  conjunction  with  the  Archbishop 
of  Mainz,  and  Conrad,  son-in-law  of  Otho;  but  at  length, 
wearied  of  war  and  despairing  of  success,  he  suddenly 
appeared  before  his  father  barefoot,  and  in  the  dress  of  a 
penitent;  and,  throwing  himself  on  his  knees,  implored 
forgiveness.  Otho  readily  i>ardoned  him,  but  took  away 
his  dukedom,  and  sent  him  into  Italy  to  fight  against  the 
rebellious  Lombards. 

In  the  following  year  the  Hungarians  again  entered 
Germany  in  countless  numbers,  and  took  up  a  position 
near  Augsburg;  and  Otho,  fully  aware  of  the  danger  with 
which  he  was  threatened,  prepared  to  meet  it  by  callin^r 
out  the  whole  militia  of  Germany.    The  Emperor  pitched 
his  camp  on  the  banks  of  the  Lech  in  Bavaria.     Fortu- 
nately for  Otho,  he  was  joined  by  Conrad,  duke  of  Fran- 
coma,  who  had  asked  and  obtained  pardon  for  his  ciimo 
of  rebellion,  and  marched  with  so  much  the  more  valour 
at  the  head  of  a  well-trained  body  of  cavah-y  against  the 
enemy.     The  army  was  divided  into  eight  corps;    the 
three  first  composed  of  Bavarians,  the  fourth  of  Franks 
led  by  Conrad;  Otho  himself  commanded  the  fifth  divi- 
sion of  picked  troops,  who,  as  a  body-guard,  had  chari?e 
ot  the  sacred  spear— formed  out  of  the  nails  of  the  Cross 
or,  according  to  some  legends,  the  weapon  itself  with 
which  the  soldier  pierced  our  Saviour's  side—and  the 
banner  emblazoned    with   a    figure    of  the   Archangel 
Michael.    The  Swabians  composed  the  sixth  and  seventh 
and  with  the  eighth  were  1000  picked  horsemen  to  guard 
the  baggage.     No  attack,  therefore,  was  expected  on  tbat 
side.     But  scarcely  had  the  Hungarian  army  made  its 
appearance   than  its  innumerable   battalions  developed 
themselves  in  order  of  battle,  swam  across  the  river  and 
nished  upon  the  camp  in  the  rear  of  the  army,  threw  the 
Bohemians  and  Swabians  into  disorder,  and  pillao-ed  the 
baggage.     Otho,  seeing  this,  ordered  Duke  Com-ad  to 
charge  the  enemy  in  front  with  his  Franconian  cavalry 


010-1273.] 


OTTO  MARCIIES   INTO   ITALY. 


87 


an  order  so  well  and  vigorously  earned  out,  that  the 
baggage  and  prisoners  were  speedily  retaken,  and  order 
established  in  the  camp.  Next  day  the  general  engage- 
ment began  in  earnest;  the  Germans,  in  the  highest 
spirits,  commencing  the  attack,  and  Otho,  encouraging 
his  men,  gave  the  signal  for  the  onset,  and,  in  the  thickest 
of  the  fight,  peiformed  prodigies  of  valour.  Though  the 
Hungarians  fought  fiercely,  a  great  and  imi^ortant  victory 
"was  achieved;  but  not  until  thousands  and  tens  of  thou- 
sands were  slain,  and  the  Lech  was  tinged  with  their 
blood,  did  they  at  length  give  way.  The  Germans  con- 
tinued the  pursuit  during  the  two  following  days;  and 
the  villages  in  which  they  sought  refuge  being  set  on 
fire,  most  of  them  were  burnt  to  death.  Three  of  their 
princes  were  hanged  as  leaders  of  brigands;  and  we  are 
told  by  Keza,  one  of  their  own  annalists,  that  out  of  two 
divisions,  mustering  G0,000  men,  only  seven  Hungarians 
escaped,  and  they  with  slit  noses  and  ears,  to  tell  their 
countrymen  of  the  terrible  disaster  which  had  befallen 
the  army.  The  third  division  could  not  have  avoided  a 
like  fate  if  Otho  had  not  been  too  soon  called  off  the 
jjursuit,  and  obliged  to  make  a  diversion  against  the 
Sclavonians.  The  Germans  were  so  transported  at  the 
bravery  of  their  monarch  that  they  hailed  him  on  the 
field  by  the  titles  of  "  Emperor  and  Father  of  his  country." 
After  all,  the  victory  was  dearly  purchased.  The  heroic 
Conrad,  opi^ressed  with  the  heat,  having  removed  his 
armour  for  air,  was  mortally  wounded  in  the  neck  by  a 
spent  arrow.  The  Bishop  of  Ratisbon,  although  severely 
wounded,  had  strength  enough  left  to  strike  down  a 
Hungarian  who  was  beginning  to  strip  him,  and  thus 
]3reserved  his  life.  After  that  great  victory  the  Hunga- 
rians never  dared  to  meet  the  Germans  in  a  i)itched  battle. 

The  Sclavonians,  being  also  reduced  to  obedience  that 
eame  year,  Germany  had  rest  once  more. 

Otho  Marches  into  Italy  and  Deposes  Berengar  (962). 

— Otho*s  rebellious  son,  Ludolph,  had  been  sent  into 
Italy  to  chastise  the  Lombard  prince  Berengar,  who,  un- 
mindful of  his  oath,  had  thrown  off  his  alle*?iance  to  the 


(\ 


88 


HISTORY    OF  GERMANY.  [pERIOD  IV. 


German  crown.  Ludolph,  after  reducing  his  enemy  to 
the  greatest  extremities;  having  fiillen  a  victim  to  the 
insahibrity  of  the  climate,  the  treacherous  Lombard  again 
rallied,  and  treated  with  cruelty  all  who  refused  to 
acknowledge  his  authority.  By  the  invitation  of  these 
suiSerers,  Otho  again  entered  Italy,  marched  into  Pavia 
without  opposition,  and,  having  deposed  Berengar,  was  a 
second  time  crowned  King  of  Italy.  From  Pavia  he 
went  to  Home,  where  he  received  the  imperial  crown 
from  the  hands  of  the  Pope,  on  the  2nd  February,  962. 
Dating  from  this  reign,  the  imperial  crown,  which  had 
been  alternately  worn  by  the  kings  of  France,  Germany^ 
and  Italy,  belonged  exclusively  to  Germany,  which  then 
took  the  name  of  the  Holy  German  Empire, 
Otho  Demands  a  Greek  Princess  for  his  Son. — During 

his  last  sojourn  at  Home  the  Emperor  caused  his  son  Otho 
to  be  crowned  by  the  Pope;  at  the  same  time  he  sent  an 
ambassador  to  Constantinople  to  demand  for  his  son  the 
hand  of  Theophania,  the  daughter  of  the  Greek  Emperor. 
The  ambassador,  Liutprand,  bishop  of  Cremona,  fared  so 
badly,  and  met  with  such  insufferable  insults  at  Constan- 
tinople, that  he  was  glad  to  escape,  he  tells  us  in  his 
journal,  from  that  '^perjured,  lying,  cheating,  rapacious, 
greedy,  avaricious,  nasty  city.''  Not  long  after,  however, 
Nicephorous  having  perished  during  a  sedition,  his  succes- 
sor hastened  to  make  an  alliance  with  the  imperial  liouse 
of  Germany.  Theophania  was  crowned  at  Rome  in  972  by 
Pope  John  XIII.,  and  married  to  the  young  Otho.  Tlie 
Emperor  returned  that  same  year  into  Germany;  and, 
having  enjoyed  some  months*  repose  after  his  campaigns, 
Otho  the  Great  terminated  in  serenity  his  glorious  career. 

He  died  suddenly  as  he  knelt  before  the  altar  in  the 
church  of  Memleben,  and  so  tranquilly,  that  the  attendants 
who  found  him  stretched  on  the  pavement  supposed  at 
first  that  he  was  asleep.  His  body  was  interred  in  tljo 
church  of  St.  Maurice  at  Magdeburg,  his  favourite  city, 
by  the  side  of  his  first  wife,  Edith  of  England. 

Otho  II.  (973-983).— Otho,  surnamed  the  Red,  on 
ascending  the  imperial  throne,  was  in   his  nineteenth 


019-1273.]  LOTIIAIRE   DESTROYS   AN  ARMY  UNDER  OTIIO.  89 

year.  It  was  a  misfortune  for  that  young  prince,  other- 
wise possessed  of  not  a  few  good  qualities,  to  have  suc- 
ceeded so  gi'eat  a  man  as  his  father  whilst  still  in  boy- 
hood. After  the  death  of  his  brother  Ludolph,  he  had 
become  haughty  and  dissipated;  and,  by  his  conduct, 
gave  proof  of  great  fickleness  of  character;  at  times  show- 
ing high-heai-tedness  and  elevation  of  mind,  whilst  at 
others  he  exhibited  the  most  singular  weakness  and 
poverty  of  idea. 

Lothaire,  King  of  France,  destroys  an  Army  under 
Otho  (975). — In  the  second  year  of  his  reign,  France 
made  the  first  attempt,  which  was  more  than  once  re- 
peated afterwards,  of  reannexing  Lorraine,  which  the 
partition  of  Verdun  had  placed  between  France  and  Ger- 
many, but  which  was  then  claimed  by  the  latter.  The 
pretensions  of  Otho  the  Bed  to  regain  every  fief  of  the 
empire,  rallied  round  the  King  of  France  the  great  vassals 
of  several  countries,  whose  sole  tactics  then  centered  in 
hindering,  either  in  France  or  Germany,  the  return  of 
the  ancient  imperial  power;  which  had  compelled  them  to 
fall  back  from  the  path  on  which  they  had  advanced  in 
the  way  of  usiu'pations  from  the  time  of  Charlemagne. 
Lorraine  stood  in  this  predicament.  Lothaire,  then  king 
of  France,  claimed  a  part  of  Lorraine  in  right  of  his 
mother,  and  the  nobles  of  that  country  summoned  him 
to  oppose  Otho.  Without  waiting  to  declare  war,  Lo- 
thaire marched  directly  upon  Aix-la-Chapelle,  where  the 
young  Emperor  kept  his  court.  Otho  was  taken  so  com- 
pletely by  surprise  that  he  was  obliged  to  rise  from  table 
where  he  was  sitting  at  dinner,  and  mounting  a  swift 
hoi-se,  escaped  out  of  one  gate  as  Lothaire  and  his.  army 
entered  at  another.  Lothaire  stripped  the  palace  of 
everything  in  it  worth  carrying  oft';  and,  having  turned 
the  golden  eagle  on  the  roof  with  its  head  towards  France, 
then  retraced  his  steps.  Otho,  burning  with  resentment 
against  Lothaire,  set  out  for  Paris,  "  to  return  the  visit," 
as  he  expressed  it,  devastating  and  ravaging  everything 

as  he  went. 

Paris  had  been  put  in  such  a  thorough  state  of  defence 


£^0  History  op  Germany.  [period  iv. 

that  Otho  was  unable  to  effect  anything  against  it.    After 
burning  the  suburbs  he  was  compelled,  therefore,  to  march 
back  into  Germany.     But  his  retreat  proved  disastrous. 
He  had  reached  unopposed  the  liver  Aisne,  which  he 
crossed  with  a  part  of  his  army  late  at  night.     In  the 
morning  it  was  found  that  the  water  had  risen  so  con- 
siderably that  it  was  impossible  for  the  second  division 
to  pass.     In  this  position  it  was  attacked  by  Lothaire; 
and  Otho,  from  the  opposite  shore,  saw  his  men  put  to 
the  rout  without  being  able  to  give  them  any  assistance. 
It  was  a  great  thing  for  Lothaire  to  have  thus  made  head 
against  the  Emperor,  and  destroyed  almost  entirely  his 
army,  60,000  strong.     Some  time  after  this  struggle  a 
treaty  of  peace  was  made  between  the  two  cousins,  and 
Otho  consented  to  give  up  Lower  Lorraine  or  Brabant  to 
Lothaire  and  his  brother  Charles,  to  be  held  as  a  fief  of 
the  empire. 

Otho  Defeated  by  the  Greeks  and  Saracens  in  Cala- 
bria (982).-~.In  980  Otho  passed  into  Italy  with  the 
intention  of  seizing  upon  certain  possessions  which  the 
Greek  emperors  then  were  holding  in  the  south,  and  over 
which  he  considered  that  he  had  rights  through  his  wife, 
Theophania,  her  father  having  promised  them,  as  the 
dowry  of  that  princess.     Whilst  on  his  march  south- 
wards, a  Eoman,  named  Crescentius,  having  caused  him- 
self to  be  proclaimed  consul,  murdered  the  Pope  (Boniface 
yi.),  and  set  up  Boniface  VII.  in  the  holy  chair.     The 
imperial    party   resisted   this   nomination,   and    elected 
another  Pope.     Otho,  thinking  himself  bound  to  inter- 
fere  m  these  commotions,  marched  to  Rome  and  restored 
order,  but  in  a  sutficiently  treacherous  and  ruthless  man- 
ner.    Having  invited  all  the  principal  Romans  who  had 
abetted  Crescentius  to  a  banquet  in  the  space  before  St. 
Peter  s  Church,  he  caused  to  be  seized  and  put  to  death 
all  whom  he  suspected  of  being  his  enemies.     He  then 
marched  against  the  Greeks,  who  summoned  to  their  aid 
the  Ai-abs  of  Africa  and  Sicily.     At  fii-st,  Otho  obtained 
some  advantages  over  them,  and  seized  upon  Tarentum  • 
but,  becoming   too   much    emboldened    by  success,   he 


910-1273.]    REBELLION  OP  DUKE  HENRY  OP  BAVARIA.      91 

allowed  himself  to  be  drawn  into  an  ambuscade ;  and, 
being  attacked  by  the  united  forces  of  the  Greeks  and 
Sai^cens  near  Basantello  in  Calabria,  his  army  was  com 
pletely  cut  to  pieces.     Udes,  duke  of  Franconia  sevex^l 
princes  and  nobles,  with  Henry,  bishop  of  Augsb^u^ Tid 
Werner,  abbot  of  Foulques,  were  left  on  the   fiekl  of 
batt  e.     The  emperor,  by  the  luckiest  chance,  saved  him- 
self by  swimming  his  horse  across  the  river,  and  got  on 
board  a  Greek  vessel  belonging  to  the  enemy;  butrbein- 
soon  recognised,  he  again  escaped  by  swimming,  landed 
near  Rossano,  and  found  himself,  as  by  a  miracle,  once 
more  amongst  his  followers.     He  died  at  Rome  the  fol- 
lowing year,  of  grief  and  disappointment,  it  is  said,  at  the 
age  of  twenty -eight,  in  the  midst  of  preparations  for 
avenging  his  defeat  (983).  ^ 

Otho  III.  surnamed  the  Prodigy  (983-1002).— Otho 
1,  '  f ""  T^  successor  of  Otho  II.,  was  only  three  years 
old  when  his  father  died;  and  his  infanc/ would  have 
proved  very  fatal  to  Germany  had  Theophania  not  known 
how  to  govern  prudently  during  hi&  minority,  and  if, 
whilst  mother  and  son  were  in  Italy,  Adelaide  had  not 
held  the  rems  of  empire  with  the  same  ability  as  her 
claughter-in-law.     Enemies  hovered  all  round  the  empire 
and  the  grasping  Lothaire  thought  it  a  favourable  moment 
tor  conquermg  Lorraine.     He  had  already  taken  the  town 
ot  Verdun  when,  perceiving  the  accord  which  reigned  in 
UtTmany,  he  renounced  his  project  and  renewed  the  peace. 
Rebellion  of  Duke  Henry  of  Bavaria.— The  first  inter- 
nal danger  which  threatened  the  realm  arose  from  the 
renewed    attempt    of  Duke   Henry  of  Bavaria  on  the 
crown  of  Germany.     That  rebellious  vassal  audaciously 
made  himself  master  of  the  young  Emperor^s  person;  but 
the  princes,  on  whose  aid  he  had  counted,  held  aloof  from 
his  treason,  declaring  that,   as  they  had   already  sworn 
lidehty  to  Otho,  they  would  not  violate  theii-  oath      Left 
thus  single-handed  in  rebellion,  the  duke's  heart  failed 
liim,  and  he  hastened  to  provide  for  his  o>vn  pei-sonal 
siifety  and  the  possession  of  his  duchy,  by  surrenderin"" 
the  young  King  and  renewing  the  oath  of  allegiance.      *" 


^2  '  HISTORY  OF  GERMANY.  [PERIOD  IV. 

Education  and  Character  of  the  Emperor.— Otho  Lad 

been  carefully  taught  the  rudiments  of  education  by  his 
mother,  and  afterwards  the  rapid  progress  he  made  in  his 
studies  under  the  tuition  of  the  celebmted  French  abbot 
of  Magdeburg,  Gerbert,  gave  lively  promise  of  a  brilliant 
future  career,  and  earned  for  him  the  surname  of  the 
Prodigy.  At  fifteen,  he  had  become  so  well  versed  in 
general  knowledge  that  it  was  thought  advisable  he  should 
assume  the  reins  of  government.  The  refined  culture 
implanted  by  Gerbert,  the  most  accomplished  scholar  of 
his  time,  seems  to  have  affected  his  imperial  pupil  with 
a  distaste  for  the  rude  and  coarse  manners  of  his  German 
subjects,  and  inclined  Otho  to  adopt  the  mannei^s  and 
customs  of  the  Greeks;  among  the  rest,  to  eat  alone  at  a 
table  raised  a  little  higher  than  that  at  which  his  courtiers 
sat,  and  to  bestow  ui)on  them  posts  of  honour,  like  the 
Greeks  and  Eomans.  He  thus  sought  to  induce  his 
Saxons  to  get  rid  of  their  rustic  coarseness,  and  to  fiishion 
themselves  more  closely  approaching  to  the  standard  of 
Grecian  delicacy.  The  result  was  that  on  being  called 
into  Italy;  in  996,  to  appease  a  fresh  revolt  of  the  Komans, 
the  Eternal  City  pleased  him  so  much  that  he  conceived 
the  idea  of  making  it  the  capital  of  his  empire,  which 
would  have  changed  the  entire  face  of  Europe.  He 
placed  in  the  pontificial  chair  Gerbert,  his  tutor,  under 
the  name  of  Sylvester  II.  But  the  Eomans  recompensed 
him  badly  for  his  inclination  towards  them;  for  whilst  he 
was  dwelling  in  their  midst  in  the  greatest  security,  as  he 
imagiaed,  with  a  small  number  of  Germans  only,  they 
revolted  and  kept  him  shut  up  during  three  days  in  his 
palace,  without  food  or  drink,  demanding  with  savage 
clamour  that  he  should  resign  the  crown.  Then  the  young 
Otho  felt  that  the  fidelity  of  the  Germans  and  their  vii-tues, 
rude  as  they  were,  transcended  in  value  the  unctuous 
words  and  polished  manners  of  the  Italians.  Bernard, 
bishop  of  Hildesheim,  who  had  been  the  first  tutor  of 
the  Emperor,  stationed  himself  with  his  sacred  lance  at 
the  i)rincipal  gate  of  the  palace,  and  thundered  terrible 
anathemas  against  the  rebels,  as  the  writer  of  his  life 


919-1273.] 


HENRY   11, 


93 


f 


tells  us;  until  at  length  the  Emperor  was  rescued  from 
the  hands  of  the  Romans  by  the  resolution  of  that  bishop 
and  the  aid  of  Duke  Henry  of  Bavaria  and  other  princes. 
Crescentius,  who  had  joined  two  insurrections,  although 
he  had  sworn  allegiance  to  Otho,  threw  himself  into  the 
Castle  of  St.  Angelo,  where  he  was  besieged,  and,  after  an 
ineffectual  resistance,  taken  prisoner  and  beheaded. 

In  the  following  year  (1002),  whilst  occupied  with  pre- 
l)arations  for  chastising  his  ungrateful  Roman  subjects, 
Otho  died,  aged  twenty-two,  at  Paterno,  of  a  spotted  fever, 
or,  as  some  chronicles  affirm,  of  poison  given  him  by  his 
mistress,  Stephania,  the  beautiful  widow  of  Crescentius. 
Thus  suddenly  cut  off,  his  name  may  be  added  to  those  of 
many  princes  over  whose  early  fate  their  subjects  have 
mourned  and  generously  persuaded  themselves  that  death 
cut  short  the  development  of  the  highest  virtues.  All 
the  male  descendants  of  Otho  the  Great,  or  the  Lion — his 
two  sons,  Ludolf  and  Otho  II.,  and  his  two  grandsons, 
Otho  III.,  and  Otho,  son  of  Ludolf — died  in  Italy  in  the 
flower  of  their  age;  so  that  of  the  imperial  Saxon  family 
there  only  remained  Duke  Henry  of  Bavaria,  great- 
grandson  of  Henry  the  Fowler,  and  son  of  that  duko 
who  had  attempted  to  wrest  the  crown  from  Otho  in  his 
infancy.  Thus,  over  and  over  again,  armies  from  one 
side  of  the  Alps  have  crossed  the  mountains,  to  conquer 
indeed  as  long  as  conquest  was  a  matter  of  swords,  pikes, 
or  guns,  but  to  be  conquered  as  soon  as  the  land  itself 
and  its  climate  had  time  to  work  a  fitting  vengeance. 
Some  lost  their  lives,  some  their  health,  some  their  energy 
and  military  discipline. 

Henry  XL,  surnamed  the  Saint  (1003-1024).— The  Ger- 
mans were  not  at  all  favourable  to  that  Bavarian  family 
of  which  Henry  was  the  head;  but  as  it  had  with  it, 
because  of  its  liberalities,  all  the  clergy,  and  possessed  all 
the  treasures  of  the  empire,  it  readily  won  over  all  the 
German  peoples,  one  after  another;  so  that  each  of  them, 
even  without  assembling  in  Diet  for  the  elections,  agreed  to 
transfer  to  him  the  imperial  dignity  with  the  sacred  lance. 

Henry  pxerited  the  surnarne  of  Saint  by  the  tenor  of 


94 


HISTORY  OP  GERMANY.  [PERTOD  IV. 


9101273.] 


THE   HOrSE   OF   FRAXCONIA. 


05 


ft  pioiis  and  severe  mode  of  life,  and  l)y  liis  well-known 
liberality  to  the  clergy.  The  latter  had  acquired  great 
possessions  under  the  Saxon  emperors,  who  had  all  shown 
themselves  very  generous  towards  that  body,  and,  by 
encouraging  the  usurpations  of  the  spiiitual  nobility,  its 
chief  members  had  become  very  poweiful  princes.  The 
German  kings,  following  the  example  of  Charlemagne,  had 
seen  with  pleasure  their  power  increase,  being  desirous  of 
opposing  it  as  a  counterpoise  to  that  of  the  magnates; 
thus  at  that  period  they  were  most  frequently  in  agree- 
ment with  them.  Bernard  of  Hildesheim,  who  had  shown 
himself  so  resolute  at  a  moment  when  danger  menaced 
Otho  Til.  at  Rome,  was  a  man  of  elevated  mind,  and  who 
testified  a  singular  zeal  for  the  progress  of  the  arts  and 
sciences  in  that  dark  age,  and  for  everything  that  could 
legitimately  advance  the  nation. 

Henry  obtains  the  Crown  of  Lombardy  (1004).— Tlio 
Emperor  Henry  received  in  Italy  a  second  surname,  that 
of  the  Lame  {Ilvffehoh).  For  after  the  death  of  Otho  III. 
a  fresh  revolt  having  taken  place  in  Italy,  and  a  margrave, 
one  Ardouin,  having  been  made  king,  Henry  went  thither 
in  1004  to  re-establish  order.  Ardouin,  being  put  to 
flight,  Henry  caused  himself  to  be  crowned  at  Pavia  with 
the  iron  crown.  To  conciliate  that  city,  and  show  respect 
to  its  inhabitants,  he  had  taken  with  him  only  a  small 
escort,  and  had  encamped  the  rest  of  his  army  outside  tho 
walls;  when  suddenly  the  Italians,  with  their  usual  incon- 
stancy, broke  out  into  insurrection.  They  rushed  towards 
the  palace  to  slay  the  Emperor;  and  it  was  then  that 
Henry,  compelled  to  leap  from  a  window,  contracted  a 
lameness.  His  guards,  though  few  in  number,  bravely 
withstood  the  attack  upon  the  palace  long  enough  for  tho 
German  troops  outside  the  city  to  scale  the  walls,  and,  by 
a  vigorous  combat,  save  their  Emperor. 

Henry,  himself  both  faithful  and  loyal  of  heart,  con- 
ceived so  great  an  antipathy  to  the  Lombards,  through 
the  treachery  of  Pavia,  that  he  could  not  be  persuaded  to 
remain  longer  in  Italy,  and  therefore  returned  to  Ger- 
many.   But  even  there  his  government  was  not  free  from 


I  \ 


troubles;  for  lie  had  not  of  himself  sufficient  power  to 
make  himself  fittingly  respected.    Much  of  his  life,  there- 
fore, was  spent  in  alternate  wars  with  the  Italians,  Poles 
and  Bohemians.  '  ' 

Henry  Crowned  Emperor  by  Pope  Benedict  VIII. 
(101 3). —Early  in  1013,  Henry  went  a  second  time  into 
Italy  to  re-establish  Pope  Benedict  VIII. ;  he  swore  to 
protect  him  faithfully,  and  was  crowned  by  him.  The 
last  yeai-s  of  his  life  were  wholly  occupied  with  founding 
the  bishopric  of  Bamberg,  the  city  of  his  predilection;  he 
endowed  it  richly,  and  hoped  that  it  might  serve  as  a 
testimony  of  his  piety  and  that  of  his  wife  Cunegonda. 
Henry  died  in  1024  at  the  castle  of  Grone,  near  Gottingen, 
which  was  often  the  residence  of  the  Saxon  Emperors. 
With  him  ended  the  Saxon  dynasty,  which,  like  that  of 
the  Carlovingian,  had  begun  with  very  gixjat  power  and 
ended  still  more  feebly  than  the  former.  Germany  once 
more  needed  a  strong-minded  and  far-sighted  sovereign  to 
prevent  her  decay,  and  from  losing  consideration  in  the 
eyes  of  other  nations;  for,  during  the  long  minority  of 
Otho  and  the  reign  of  Henry  II.,  the  great  vassals  had 
been  suflfered  to  make  numerous  usurpations  over  the 
imperial  rights.  The  sons  of  nobles,  enriched  by  gifts  of 
the  empire,  were  confirmed  in  their  possessions,  as  fully 
as  though  they  held  them  by  hereditary  right.  There 
were  even  several  contests  on  this  subject  which  were  not 
settled  without  bloodshed,  and  it  was  especially  the  south 
of  Germany  that  was  torn  by  those  wars.  Nevertheless, 
the  number  of  Christian  countiies  in  which  the  imperial 
dignity  was  respected  at  the  same  time  as  the  authority  of 
the  church  was  considerably  enlarged.  Towards  the  year 
1000,  which,  according  to  traditional  belief,  was  to  be  the 
last  that  the  world  would  ever  behold,  and  when  warriors, 
laying  aside  their  arms,  endeavoured  by  prayer  and 
penance  to  prepare  themselves  for  the  day  of  judgment, 
Christianity  spread  itself  in  Hungary,  Poland,  Russia, 
Norway,  Sweden,  and  Denmark. 

The  House  of  Pranconia  (1024-1125).— Conrad  II., 
surnamed  the  Salian  (1024-1039).— The  difierent  German 


96 


HISTORY   OF   GERMANY. 


[period  IV. 


peoples  assembled  to  elioose  a  new  Emperor,  eacli  with 
its  duke,  upon  the  banks  of  the  Ilhine,  between  Mayence 
and  AVorms,  at  Oppenheim.  The  majority  was  in  favour 
of  the  house  of  Franconia,  and  of  that  house  two  princes, 
both  named  Conrad,  were  preferred  to  the  rest  of  the 
candidates  by  the  consideration  they  enjoyed  from  their 
good  qualities.  Count  Conrad  the  Elder,  called  the  Salian, 
as  being,  by  tradition,  descended  from  the  JNIerovingians, 
and  Conrad  the  Younger,  were  sons  of  two  brothers, 
descendants  of  Conrad  the  Wise,  kinsman  of  Otho  I.,  who 
perished  in  the  battle  fought  against  the  Hungarians  on 
the  banks  of  the  Lech :  both  were  worthy  of  their  ancestor, 
and  were  allied,  on  the  maternal  side,  to  the  imperial 
house  of  Saxony. 

When  the  election  was  about  to  commence,  Aribon, 
archbishop  of  Mayence,  who  had  to  give  the  first  vote, 
named  Conrad  the  Elder,  and  the  archbishoi)S  and 
bishops  who  followed  imitated  Aribon;  whilst  among 
the  temporal  princes  it  was  the  lot  of  the  Duke  of  Fran- 
conia (Conrad  the  Younger)  to  vote  first.  The  latter  rose 
lip,  and  with  loud  voice  chose  his  cousin.  Conrad  the 
Elder  took  him  by  the  hand,  embraced  him  affectionately, 
and  placed  him  by  his  side;  whilst  the  other  princes 
approved,  with  the  exception  of  only  two  dissentient 
voices,  and  the  people  applauded  their  assent. 

The  new  Emperor  was  then  conducted  to  Mayence  for 
the  purj)Ose  of  being  solemnly  consecrated  and  crowned 
there.  During  the  i)rogress  to  the  cathedral,  the  proces- 
sion was  detained  a  long  time  by  a  crowd  of  petitioners 
who  demanded  justice  of  the  new  sovereign.  Conrad 
listened  graciously  to  all  the  supplicants,  and  remarked  to 
the  bishops,  who  showed  some  dissatisfaction  at  the  delay : 
«*  The  first  of  my  duties  is  to  render  justice,  however  hard 
may  be  the  task."  These  words  were  heard  with  the 
liveliest  pleasure,  and  thenceforward  great  hoi)es  were 
placed  in  tlie  new  Emperor,  hopes  which  Conrad  later 
justified.  He  began  his  reign  by  making  a  progress 
through  his  dominions,  dispensing  justice,  re-establishinnr 
order,  and  showing  everywhere  a  just  severity  united 


919-1273.] 


THE   HOUSE   OF   FRANCONIA. 


97 


with  such  active  goodness,  that  it  was  said  of  him  that  no 
king  since  Charlemagne  had  so  well  merited  to  be  seated 
on  his  throne. 

Whilst  ho  thus  governed  his  interior  dominions,  ho 
laboured  with  the  same  success  for  the  grandeur  and  con- 
sideration of  Germany  abroad.  Shortly  after  his  accession, 
he  visited  Italy  (1026),  was  crowned  King  of  that  country 
at  Milan,  and  at  Rome  as  Emperor  on  Easter-day  of  the 
year  following,  two  sovereign  princes  being  present  at  the 
ceremony:  Eudolph  III.  of  Burgundy  and  Canute  the  Great 
of  England  and  Scandinavia.  With  the  latter  Conrad 
inaugurated  a  firm  friendship  which  lasted  during  a  cen- 
tury amongst  their  descendants,  his  son  having  espoused 
Canute's  daughter,  Cunihilda,  and  settled  with  him  the 
boundaries  of  Germany  and  Denmark,  so  that  the  river 
Eider,  which  flows  between  Holstein  and  Sleswick,  should 
separate  the  two  kingdoms.  It  is  true  that  he  lost  by 
such  arrangement  the  margraviate  of  Sleswick;  but  it 
was  a  country  very  difiicult  to  defend,  and  Conrad,  more- 
over, made  acquisitions  which  compensated  for  its  loss. 

Henry  II.  had  already  made  anteriorly  with  his  uncle 
Rudolph,  King  of  Burgundy,  who  had  no  child,  a  treaty 
by  which  Burgundy  should  be  reunited  to  Germany  after 
his  death.  Conrad  renewed  that  treaty;  and,  when 
Rudolph  died,  he  took  possession  of  his  kingdom,  although 
a  party  of  Burgundians  had  summoned  to  opjiose  him  the 
powerful  Count  of  Champagne,  Odo,  whom,  however,  he 
humiliated,  and  forced  to  acknowledge  him  as  King  of 
Burgundy  {Cis-Jnrane).  That  kingdom  which  now  com- 
prehended the  fine  provinces  of  the  south-east  of  France, 
since  called  Provence,  Dauphiny,  Franche-Comte,  the 
Lyonnais,  Savoy,  and  a  part  of  Switzerland,  thus  placed 
Germany  in  communication  with  the  Mediterranean  by 
the  important  ports  of  Toidon  and  Marseilles — a  mag- 
nificent acquisition,  which,  later,  under  the  feeble  Empe- 
rors, was  neglected,  and  fell  into  the  power  of  the  French. 
•  Umler  the  Emperor  Conrad  was  established  for  the 
fii-st  time  an  institution  by  which  the  Church,  whose 
power  had  long  become  superior  to  all  other,  endeavoured 


9S 


HISTORY   OF   GERMANY.  [PERIOD  IV. 


to  bridle  the  tyranny  of  brute  force.  In  other  words,  to 
lessen  the  evils  caused  by  the  continual  wars  of  the  nobles 
with  one  another,  the  Church  proposed  the  following  pact, 
and  enforced  its  adoption  u})on  several  princes : — From 
Wednesday  evening  at  sunset  to  Monday  morning  at 
sunrise  of  each  week,  or  on  any  festival  of  the  Church, 
and  during  Advent  or  Lent,  all  fighting  to  cease,  no  sword 
to  be  unsheathed.  This  pact  was  called  "  the  Truce  of 
God  "  {treuga  or  tnva  Del)^  and  whosoever  should  dare  to 
break  it  incurrtjd  inevitably  the  pain  of  excommunication. 
This  league,  which  came  first  into  operation  in  1034,  after 
several  years  of  terrible  famine  and  all  the  other  scourges 
which  accompanied  it,  was  organised  in  Burgundy  and 
Lorraine  by  the  clergy,  and  chiefly  by  Odillon,  abbot  of 
Cluny;  and  thence  it  soon  spread  into  France  and  Eng- 
land. Its  operation  lasted  some  fifty  years,  and  obtained 
throughout  all  Christian  countries,  proving  highly  bene- 
ficial and  reflecting  great  honour  on  the  ecclesiastics  and 
princes  who  promoted  and  enforced  it. 

During  Conrad's  second  expedition  into  Italy,  whither 
internal  dissensions,  and  especially  the  arrogance  of  Heri- 
bert,  the  haughty  Bishop  of  Milan,  called  him,  in  1037,  tho 
plague  decimated  his  army  and  carried  off  the  Emperor's 
kinsman,  Hermann  of  Swabia,  as  well  as  the  young  wife 
of  his  son,  Henry,  the  King  of  Denmark's  daughter. 
Conrad  himself  was  attacked  by  the  same  malady,  which 
proved  incurable,  and  of  which  he  died  after  his  return  to 
Germany,  4th  June  1039,  at  Utrecht,  and  was  buried  in 
the  cathedral  at  Spires.  His  wife,  Giselle,  one  of  tho 
most  distinguished  princesses  of  Germany,  who  loved  him 
tenderly,  refused  all  consolation,  and  lamented  liis  loss 
until  her  death  in  the  convent  of  Kaufungen,  near  Casscl. 

Conrad  II.  did  not  hesitate  to  make  public  his  inten- 
tion of  carrying  out  what  may  be  called  the  cardinal  idea 
of  the  Salian  family;  namely,  to  get  rid,  as  far  as  possible, 
of  everything  which  limited  the  imperial  power;  of 
restraining,  on  the  contrary,  that  of  the  magnates  within 
narrow  bounds,  and,  in  order  to  attain  that  two-fold 
object,  to  win  by  every  kind  of  favour  the  holderji  of  tho 


919-1273.] 


THE  HOUSE  OP   FRAXCOXIA. 


99 


smaller  fiefs.  This  he  did  by  rendering  those  fiefs  here- 
ditary, providing  that  every  fief,  not  held  immediately 
from  the  crown,  should  be  regularly  transmitted  from 
fiither  to  son;  that  all  delinquent  vassals  should  be  tried, 
not  as  heretofore  by  the  insolent  coercion  of  the  great 
feudal  lords,  but  by  a  jury  of  men  of  their  own  rank;  and 
that  in  the  case  of  his  feeling  aggrieved,  any  vassal  might 
appeal  from  his  lord  to  the  Em]:)eror.  This  was  a  decided 
step  towards  the  emancipation  of  the  smaller  vassals,  who 
had  become  little  better  than  the  slaves  of  the  powerful 
lords.  Such  was  the  important  law  promulgated  by 
Conrad  in  1037,  first  in  Italy  and  afterwards  in  Germany. 
At  the  same  time  he  strove  to  bring  back  the  princes, 
and  more  especially  the  dukes,  to  their  ancient  status  in 
relation  to  the  empire — to  that  of  functionaries.  Ho 
even  succeeded  in  bestowing  by  degrees  the  vacant  duchies 
of  Bavaria,  Swabia,  and  Carinthia  on  his  own  son  Henry, 
which  he  looked  upon  as  subservient  to  the  execution  of 
the  grand  scheme  of  rendering  the  imperial  crown  all- 
powerful;  and  if  he  had  succeeded,  Germany  would  early 
have  been  what  France  was  later — a  single  and  powerful 
realm.  But  the  Salian  family  was  arrested  in  its  career, 
as  well  by  its  own  faults  as  by  the  puissance  of  the  ponti- 
ficial  chair,  which  raised  itself  up  with  an  astonishing 
strength  and  promptitude,  and  of  which  the  potent  Conrad 
11.  was  far  from  foreseeing  the  aggressive  preponderance 
over  his  grandson.  The  Guelphs  or  Welfs  are  first  heard 
of  in  this  reign,  and  afterwards,  it  will  be  seen,  figure  con- 
spicuously in  the  history  of  the  emj^ire.  In  the  eleventh 
century,  Azzo,  Lord  of  Milan  and  Genoa,  became  allied 
with  a  branch  of  this  family  by  marriage;  and  at  a  later 
period  his  descendants,  as  well  as  the  representatives  of 
the  German  line,  were  the  founders  of  a  i)olitical  party  in 
Italy  and  Germany,  which  rendered  itself  prominent  by 
its  support  of  the  JPopes,  and  its  advocacy  of  Italian  inde- 
pendence, in  opposition  to  the  Ghibel lines,  who  took  part 
with  the  Emperor.  A  descendant  of  the  Guelphic  house, 
George,  Elector  of  Hanover,  ascended  the  British  throno 
pn  the  death  of  Queen  Anne  in  171-4. 


100 


UISTOKY   OF   GERMANY.  [PERIOD  IV. 


Henry  III.,  surnamed  the  Blade  (1030-105G). — Henry, 

the  son  of  Conrad,  though  scarcely  twenty-two  years  old 
at  his  accession,  inspired,  nevertheless,  hopes  which  the 
future  failed  not  to  realise.  Like  his  father,  he  possessed 
a  genius  for  governing^  a  resolute  will,  and  a  firmness 
exaggerated  even  to  obstinacy.  He  was  easy  of  speech, 
if  not  eloquent,  and  had  early  been  well  instructed  by  his 
mother,  Giselle,  chiefly  by  reading,  though  books  at  that 
time  were  very  rare. 

No  Emperor  since  Charlemagne  more  rigorously  main- 
tained, and  no  one  commanded  with  more  authority  along 
all  the  frontiers  of  his  vast  empire,  order  and  enforced 
obedience  both  in  Italy  and  Germany.  He  had  early 
distinguished  himself  by  crushing  formidable  insurrec- 
tions in  Bohemia  and  Burgundy,  but  nothing  contributes 
more  to  the  martial  glory  of  his  reign  than  that  he  so 
humbled  the  outer  barbarians  of  Hungary,  who,  for  up- 
wards of  a  century,  had  been  the  terror  of  the  Germans, 
that  the  Magyar  nobles,  after  a  fierce  battle  in  which 
they  were  defeated  on  the  banks  of  the  Eaab,  took  the 
oath  of  fidelity  (1044);  and  Peter,  their  King,  restored  to 
the  rule  of  his  country  as  a  fief,  did  homage,  and  there- 
upon received  from  the  hands  of  the  young  Emperor  the 
gilded  spear. 

Henry  then  i)assed  into  Italy  to  remedy  the  groat  dis- 
orders prevailing  there.  Three  popes  had  ))een  chosen  at 
once  by  different  factions:  Benedict  IX.,  Sylvester  III., 
and  Gregory  VI.,  each  of  whom  claimed  the  obedience  of 
the  faithful.  Henry  convoked  a  council  at  Sutri,  and 
after  listening  to  the  trii)le  claims,  he  deposed  all  three 
as  illegally  appointed,  and  placed  a  German  in  the  ponti- 
ficial  chair,  Suidger,  bishop  of  Bamberg,  who  took  the 
name  of  Clement  II.  The  new  Pope  crowned  Henry 
Emperor  on  Christmas  day  1046.  After  Clement,  Henry 
gave  three  more  popes  to  the  Romans  (for  they  had  re- 
newed the  promise,  made  previously  to  Otho  I.,  to  recog- 
nise no  Pope  without  the  approbation  of  the  Em2)eror) ; 
all  were  bishops  of  Germany,  chosen  from  amongst  the 
most  worthy  and  distinguished. 


019-1273.] 


Henry  iv. 


101 


Havmg  determined  to  give  up  to  other  princes  the 
German  duchies  he  had  hitherto  held,  Henry  selected 
those  who  possessed  the  least  power,  and  on  whom  lie 
bestowed   the   title   of  duke,   though    not    the    ancient 
privileges  attached  to  it.     To  Henry,  of  the  House  of 
Luxembourg,  he  gave  the  duchy  of  Bavaria,  and  after 
lum  to  Conrad,  one  of  the  counts  palatine;  that  of  Cariii- 
thia  to  Guelph,  son  of  Guelph,  count  of  Swabia;  and 
Swabia  to  Otho,  count  palatine  of  the  Rhine.    The  house 
of  Guelph  was  already  powerful  in  Swabia,  and  would 
have  well  desired  on  that  account  to  possess  its  duchy ; 
but  it  was  precisely  for  that  reason  that  Henry  placed 
Count  Guelph  in  Carinthia,  unwilling  that  the  Count's 
great  patrimony  should  be  situated  in  the  duchy  he  gave 
him,   which  he  moreover  weakened    by  detaching*' the 
inarches  of  Styria,  Carniola,  and  Istria,  and  placing  over 
them  a   Margrave.     It  was   thus,  from   high   political 
motives,  that  he  disposed  of  the  great  dignities  of  the 
empire,  whilst  he  favoured  the  hereditary  succession  of 
the  small  fiefs.     It  was  he  also  who  gave  the  duchy  of 
Upi)er  Lorraine  to  Albei-t  of  Longwy,  one  of  the  ancestors 
of  Francis  I.,  and  consequently  one  of  the  chiefs  of  the 
present  House  of  Austria. 

Henry  died  suddenly  at  Bothfeld,  near  Blankembouiy, 
at  the  foot  of  the  Hartz,  whither  he  had  gone  to  hunt, 
5th  October  105G,  in  the  flower  of  his  age,  being  in  liis 
thirty-ninth  year,  and  in  the  midst  of  great  projects  for 
the  future. 

Henry  IV.  (105G-110G).— At  the  birth  of  his  son,  the 
princes  had  promised  to  Henry  the  Black  to  accept  him 
as  his  successor;  but,  unfortunately,  when  the  Emperor 
died  the  young  prince  was  only  in  his  sixth  year.  His 
education  and  the  management  of  his  em])ire  were  at  first 
confided  to  the  hands  of  his  excellent  mother,  Agnes;  but 
it  was  soon  seen  that  the  regent-mother  was  quite  unable 
to  cope  with  the  turbulent  magnates  in  their  attacks  on 
the  privileges  of  the  crown  and  the  liberties  of  the  people, 
and  consequently  to  complete  the  work  of  Henry  III. 
On  the  contrary,  she  sought  to  strengthen  her  government 


102 


tllSTORY  OP   GERMANY.  [pERIOD  iV. 


919-1273.] 


tiENRY  IV. 


103 


by  winning  over  some  "by  admitting  them  to  offices  of  tlio 
highest  trust  and  honour.  Heniy,  bishop  of  Augsburg, 
possessed  her  entire  confidence;  but,  stern  and  upright, 
a  widespread  feeling  of  envy  and  jealousy  attended  his 
attempts  to  counteract  the  evils  by  which  her  regency  was 
assailed.  At  the  head  of  the  malcontents  was  Hanno, 
archbishop  of  Cologne,  a  man  amljitious  and  adroit,  but 
of  a  rigid  and  severe  disposition.  This  jn-elate,  in  order 
to  obtain  the  regency,  entered  into  a  conspiracy  to  carry 
off  the  young  King,  and  for  that  puq^ose  repaired  at 
Easter,  1062,  to  Kaiserwerthe,  an  island  in  the  E-hine, 
where  the  Empress  was  then  keeping  her  coui-t.  One 
day  after  dinner,  Hanno  persuaded  the  young  prince,  then 
twelve  years  old,  to  enter  his  pleasure  boat  with  the  view 
of  inspecting  a  vessel  of  extraordinary  size  then  building 
close  by ;  but,  scarcely  was  he  on  board,  when  the  sailors, 
at  a  sign  from  the  archbishop,  pulled  from  the  shore  and 
rowed  towards  the  mainland.  Perceiving  that  it  was  the 
aim  of  the  conspirators  to  separate  him  from  his  mother, 
the  terrified  boy  leaped  suddenly  overboard,  and  assuredly 
would  have  been  drowned  had  not  Count  Egbert  of 
Brunswick  plunged  into  the  stream  and  rescued  him. 
Again  in  the  boat,  the  conspirators  sought  to  pacify  him 
by  many  and  fair  words,  and  so  conducted  him  to  Cologne. 
The  bereft  regent-mother  thus  finding  that  the  German 
princes  had  no  longer  any  confidence  in  her,  announced  it  as 
her  intention  to  seek  repose  in  the  quietude  of  the  cloister. 
Hanno  immediately  proclaimed  himself  regent,  and 
assumed  the  guardianship  of  the  young  Emperor;  but 
that  it  might  not  appear  as  though  he  desired  to  have  the 
sovereign  power  wholly  in  his  hands,  he  procured  a  law 
to  be  passed  appointing  that  Henry  should  reside  succes- 
sively in  the  different  countries  of  Germany,  and  that  the 
bishop  of  the  diocese  in  which  he  might  be  should  tem- 
porarily have  the  tutelage  of  him,  and  therefore  the 
government  of  the  kingdom.  It  may  readily  be  believed 
that,  at  the  bottom  of  his  heart,  Hanno  thought  to  exer- 
cise the  greatest  influence  over  the  piince's  mind,  but 
he  was  not  the  sort  of  man  to  conciliate  his  aflection. 


i 


Haughty,  imperious,  and  severe,  as  during  the  penances 
of  the  father,  the  violent  Henry  the  Black,  the  prelate, 
feared  not,  it  is  said,  to  strike  hard;  so  also  in  his  treat- 
ment of  the  son,  he  hesitated  not  to  exercise  his  functions 
with  equal  rigour.  Among  the  other  bishops,  on  the 
contrary,  was  one  of  totally  different  character.  As 
ambitious  as  Hanno,  but  dexterous  and  given  to  flattery; 
handsome  of  person  and  full  of  amenity — qualities  which 
won  over  to  him  the  young  Henry  so  much  the  more 
easily  that  he  allowed  him  to  do  exactly  as  he  liked. 
This  was  Adelbert,  archbishop  of  Bremen,  a  lover  of 
luxury  and  pomp,  and  a  jovial  boon-companion  also;  no 
characters  could  be  more  opposite  than  those  of  the  men 
who  had  taken  upon  themselves  the  charge  of  the  youthful 
Emperor;  for  Hanno,  well  aware  that  there  were  many 
other  magnajtes,  scarcely  less  powerful  than  himself,  who 
would  probably  dispute  with  him  possession  of  the  sove- 
reign's person,  had  craftily  proposed  to  Adelbert  that 
Henry  should  reside  in  his  diocese  at  a  subsequent  period, 
and  that  the  regency,  meanwhile,  should  be  administered 
by  the  two  prelates  conjointly.  In  their  hearts  these  two 
ecclesiastics  were  the  bitterest  enemies,  and  agreed  only 
in  striving,  each  to  the  full  extent  of  his  power,  to  tyran- 
nise over  and  plunder  the  German  empire. 

The  young  Henry,  whoso  misfortune  it  was  to  fall  into 
the  hands  of  two  guardians  so  unfit  for  tlie  task  which 
they  had  undertaken,  i)ossessed  a  pliancy  of  disposition 
which  rendered  his  character  peculiarly  susceptible  of 
injury  from  the  opposite  but  equally  faulty  systems  pur- 
sued by  his  instructors.  Whilst  Hanno,  by  educating 
him  as  he  would  have  taught  the  meanest  chorister  of  his 
cfiurch,  excited  in  his  young  mind  feelings  of  bitter  hatred 
towards  his  severe  taskmaster,  Adelbert  corrupted  his 
morals  by  the  daily  scenes  of  licentiousness  which  dis- 
graced the  palace  at  Bremen.  The  first  lesson  inculcated 
was  the  dangerous  one,  that  kings  are  accountable  for 
their  actions  to  none  but  God;  the  second,  that  the  dukes 
of  the  em})ire,  his  natural  enemies,  as  lie  was  told,  were 
to  be  hunted  down  with  as  little  remorse  as  wild  beasts. 


104  niSTORV  OF  GERMANY.  [PERIOD  IV. 

The  Saxons,  with  whom  Adelbert  hud  long  been  at  vari- 
ance, were  unceasingly  reviled,  and  a  prejudice  created  in 
the  mind  of  Henry  w  hich  at  a  later  period  of  his  reign  was 
the  cause  of  much  bloodshed  and  misery. 

The  austere  Hanno  having  made  a  journey  to  Ptome, 
and  remained  long  absent,  the  profligate  Adelbert  con- 
sequently became  sole  master  of  his  imperial  charge. 
Nothing  could  have  been  more  pernicious  for  this  young 
Emperor  than  to  be  subjected  to  the  influence  of  two  men 
no  diametrically  opposite  in  character.  From  the  most 
rigid  severity,  he  suddenly  passed  to  unrestricted  license 
and  the  uncontrolled  gratification  of  the  senses. 

In  1063,  the  young  Henry  accompanied  his  guardian 
in  an  expedition  against  the  Hungarians,  and  returned 
after  a  successful  campaign,  more  than  ever  delighted 
with  his  unprincipled  instructor.  Two  years  later,  being 
then  fifteen  years  of  age,  he  was  girded  with  the  sword  of 
knighthood  and  declared  a  man.  The  Emperor  now  took 
up  his  residence  at  Goslar,  in  Saxony,  where  his  court 
became  a  scene  of  the  most  undisguised  and  shameless 
profligacy.  To  support  the  expenses  of  this  court  exac- 
tions were  made  on  the  inhabitants  of  the  surrounding 
country,  whose  murmurs  and  remonstrances  were  treated 
with  contempt.  A  financial  crisis  at  length  having  been 
brought  about,  the  princes  of  the  empire  assembled  to 
deliberate  upon  the  affairs  of  Germany,  and  resolved  unani- 
mously that  no  choice  should  be  allowed  to  the  King  except 
that  of  abandoning  Adelbert  or  resigning  the  crown. 
Henry,  unwilling  to  renounce  his  favourite,  endeavoured 
to  escape  by  night,  carrying  with  him  the  regalia  of  the 
empire;  but  his  enemies  having  surrounded  the  palace 
with  a  guard,  his  attempt  was  frustrated.  A  second 
council  was  then  held,  at  which  scenes  of  great  violence 
were  enacted,  and  the  archbishop  scarcely  escaped  bein^ 
personally  ill-treated  by  the  enraged  princes.  At  length 
it  was  resolved  by  a  great  majority  that  Heniy  should 
be  compelled  to  dismiss  his  obnoxious  favourite,  renounce 
his  profiigate  course  of  life,  and  marry  Bcrtlia,  daughter 
of  the  Italian  margrave  of  Susa,  a  woman  of  the  most 


0101273.] 


HENRY  IV. 


105 


estimable  character,  to  whom  he  had  been  in  childhood 
betrothed.  Yielding  to  necessity,  Henry  dismissed  the 
archbishop,  and  retired  with  his  bride  to  Goslar.  Adel- 
bert being  now  exposed  to  the  fury  of  his  enemies,  was 
robbed  of  all  his  possessions,  and  reduced  to  a  state  of  the 
most  abject  poverty. 

Meanwhile  Henry,  thinking  himself  safe  in  his  strong- 
hold of  Goslar,  returned  to  his  usual  dissolute  life,  and 
treated  his  wife  with  great  cruelty.  As  in  the  case  of  most 
forced  marriages,  their  union  soon  proved  an  unha])py  one, 
and  he  sought  to  obtain  a  divorce;  but  the  opposition  of 
the  Pope  and  the  German  princes  proved  fata]  to  the 
prosecution  of  Henry's  suit;  and,  after  a  time,  touched 
by  the  gentle  patience  with  which  she  had  borne  his 
ill-usage,  he  began  to  treat  her  with  as  much  aftection 
as  Jiis  depraved  heart  was  capable  of  feeling;  and  was 
requited  by  finding  in  her  the  most  constant  of  friends 
and  wisest  of  counsellors. 

In  1069,  Henry's  evil  genius,  the  Archbishop  of  Bremen, 
again  appeared  at  Goslar,  and  by  his  evil  counsels  speedily 
embroiled  his  imperial  master  afresh  with  the  Saxons  and 
Bavarians.  After  a  series  of  plots  and  insurrections,  the 
Saxons  concluded  a  peace  with  Henry  at  Gerstingen,  the 
chief  condition  of  svhich  was  that  all  the  royal  fortresses 
in  Saxony  should  be  put  into  their  hands,  and  levelled 
with  the  ground — a  work  which  they  performed  with 
disgusting  brutality,  particularly  at  the  Hartzburg,  where 
they  disinterred  and  insulted  the  corpse  of  Henry's  son. 
Aroused  by  this  atrocity,  the  Emperor  declared  that  he 
no  longer  considered  himself  bound  by  the  conditions  of 
the  peace.  The  nobles  were  now  on  his  side,  for  they  had 
taken  deep  ofience  at  the  Saxons  for  having  presumed  to 
conclude  a  peace  without  their  sanction;  and  Henry  soon 
found  himself  at  the  head  of  a  powerful  army,  with  which 
he  encountered  the  enemy  near  the  town  of  Langen-Salza, 
in  Thuriugia.  The  combat  lasted  the  whole  day,  and,  at 
its  conclusion,  the  Saxons,  who  had  lost  8000  men,  sur- 
rendered to  Henry,  as  their  fathers  had  often  done  to 
Charlemagne,  determined  to  burst  the  diain  as  soon  as  a 


10(5 


illSTORY  OF  GERMANY.  [pERIOD  IV. 


favourable  opportunity  slioukl  occur  for  renouncing  their 
forced  allegiance. 

With  Henry  IV.  commenced  the  intenninable  wars  of 
the  investitures,  which,  during  two  centuries,  convulsed 
the  Christian  world.  That  Pope  Hildebrand*  was  i)er- 
fectly  justified  in  seeking  to  deprive  the  Emperor  of  an 
usurped  right,  of  filling,  through  corruption  or  court 
favour,  ecclesiastical  dignities  with  the  weakest  and  most 
vicious  of  men,  will  not  be  denied.  Had  not  the  Holy 
See  interposed,  religion  itself  would  for  ever  have  been 
attached  to  the  imperial  car,  and,  from  a  ruling  power,, 
converted  into  a  slave.  All  the  princes  of  Europe  would 
have  imitated  the  conduct  of  Henry;  in  fact,  by  some — 
by  our  William  Kufus  among  the  rest — it  loas  imitated ; 
and  others  were  only  waiting  for  the  discomforture  of  tho 
Pope,  to  seize  on  the  revenues  and  entire  administration 
of  the  Church.  Had  he  triumphed,  the  regal  and  sacer- 
dotal  characters  would  at  length  have  been  united;  and 
Christianity  would  not  have  been  at  all  superior  to  the 
religion  of  pagan  Home  or  Thibet. 

From  this  time  to  the  reign  of  Rudolph  I.  the  leading 
characteristic  of  German  history  is  a  struggle  between  the 
Emperors  and  the  Popes :  by  the  former  to  extend  their 
influence,  as  well  over  the  Germanic  Church  as  over  Italy; 
by  the  latter  to  prevent  both.  The  late  wearer  of  tho 
iron  crown  had  displaced  three  contending  popes,  who 
were  disturbing  the  peace  of  the  city  by  their  ferocious 
quarrels,  and  had  appointed  others  in  their  room.  There 
was  no  murmur  of  opposition  to  their  appointment.    They 

"  *  Hildebrand,  afterwords  Gregory  VII.  Avas  the  son  of  a  Roman 
blacksmith,  or,  according  to  other  authorities,  of  a  carpenter  in 
the  small  town  of  Soano,  in  Tuscany.  Having  risen  to  the  highest 
offices  of  the  Church  by  his  talents,  in  the  reign  of  Henry  III., 
he  was  invited  to  Rome  by  Leo  XL,  whose  chancellor  he  became. 
Thenceforward,  it  was  he  who  directed  every  action  of  that 
Pontiff,  his  object  bein;;  the  elevation  of  the  Pope  above  all  the 
potentates  of  earth.  To  this  end  he  devoted  his  whole  life  with 
so  much  wisdom  and  firmness,  with  such  singular  force  and 
ability,  that  he  must  be  ranked  amongst  the  most  extraordinary 
men  of  his  time.  He  was  elected  to  the  papal  chair  in  1073,  aiij 
assumed  the  title  of  Gregory  VII. 


019-1273.] 


HENRY  IV. 


10? 


were  pious  and  venerable  men;  and  of  each  of  them  the 
inscrutable  Hildebrand  had  managed  to  make  himself  the 
confidential  adviser,  and  in  reality  the  guide  and  master. 
Even  in  his  own  case,  he  waited  patiently  till  he  had 
secured  the  Emperor's  legal  ratification  of  his  election,  and 
then,  armed  with  legitimacy,  and  burning  with  smothered 
indignation,  lie  wrote  an  insulting  letter  to  the  Emperor, 
commanding  him  to  abstain  from  simony,  and  to  renounce 
the  right  of  investiture  by  the  ring  and  cross.  These,  ho 
maintained,  were  the  signs  of  spiritual  dignitv,  and  their 
bestowal  was  inherent  in  the  Pope.  The  time  for  tho 
message  was  admirably  chosen,  for  Henry  was  engaged 
in  a  hard  stniggle  for  life  and  crown  with  the  Saxons  and 
Thuringians,  who  were  in  open  revolt.  Henry  promised 
obedience  to  the  Pontiff's  wish;  but  when  his  enemies 
were  defeated  he  withdrew  his  concession.  The  Pope 
tlumdered  a  sentence  of  excommunication  against  him, 
released  his  subjects  from  their  oath  of  fealty,  and  pro- 
nounced him  deprived  of  his  throne.  The  Emperor  was 
not  left  behind  in  the  race  of  objurgation. 

Henry  summoned  his  princes  and  prelates  to  a  council 
at  Worms,  and  pronounced  sentence  of  deprivation  on  the 
Pope.  TJien  arose  such  a  storm  against  the  unfortunate 
Henry  as  only  religious  differences  can  create.  His  sub- 
jects had  been  oppressed,  his  nobility  insulted,  his  clergy 
impoverished,  and  all  classes  of  his  people  were  glad  of 
the  opportunity  of  hiding  their  hatred  of  his  oppressions 
under  cloak  of  regard  for  the  interests  of  religion.  He 
was  forced  to  yield;  and,  crossing  the  Alps  in  the  middle 
of  winter,  he  presented  himself  at  the  castle  of  Canossa. 
Here  the  Pope  displayed  the  humility  and  generosity  of 
his  Christian  character,  by  leaving  the  wretched  Henry 
three  days  and  nights  in  the  outer  court,  shivering  with 
cold  and  barefoot,  while  his  Holiness  and  the  Countess 
Matilda  (heiress  of  Boniface,  the  rich  Margrave  of  Tus- 
cany), were  comfortably  closeted  within.  And  after  this 
unheard  of  degi-adation,  all  that  could  be  wiping  from  the 
hatred  of  the  inexorable  monk  was  a  promise  that  tho 
suppliant  should  be  tried  with  justice,  and  that  if  he  sue- 


108  HISTORY   OP   GERMANY.  [PERIOD  IV* 

ceeded  in  proving  liis  innocence,  lie  should  be  reinstated 
on  his  throne;  but  if  he  were  found  guilty,  he  should  bo 
punished  with  the  utmost  rigour  of  the  ecclesiastical  law. 

Common  sense  and  good  feeling  were  revolted  by  this 
unexampled  insolence.  Friends  gatliered  round  Henry 
when  the  terms  of  the  sentence  were  heard.  The  Romans 
themselves,  who  had  hitherto  been  blindly  submissive, 
were  indignant  at  the  presumption  of  their  bishop.  None 
continued  faithful  except  the  imperturbable  Countess 
Matilda,  the  zealous  partisan  of  the  Pope,  and  to  whom  she 
had  given  secretly  all  her  possessions.  He  was  still  to  her 
the  representative  of  divine  goodness  and  superhuman 
jjower.  But  her  troops  were  beaten  and  her  money 
exhausted  in  the  holy  quarrel.  Robert  Guiscard,  the 
Norman,  indeed,  came  to  the  rescue,  and  rewarded  himself 
for  delivering  the  Pope  by  sacking  the  city  of  Rome. 
Half  the  houses  were  burned,  and"  half  the  population 
killed  or  sold  as  slaves.  It  was  from  amidst  the  desola- 
tion his  ambition  had  caused  that  the  still  unsubdued 
Hildebrand  was  guarded  by  the  Normans  to  the  citadel 
of  Salerno,  and  there  he  died,  issuing  his  orders  and  cui-ses 
to  his  latest  hour,  and  boasting  with  his  latest  breath  that 
*'  he  had  loved  righteousness  and  hated  iniquity,  and  that 
therefore  he  expired  in  exile."  After  this  man's  throwing 
off  the  mask  of  moderation  under  which  his  predecessors 
had  veiled  tlieir  claims,  the  world  was  no  longer  left  in 
doubt  of  the  aims  and  objects  of  the  spiritual  power. 

None  of  the  great  potentates  of  Europe,  however,  was 
anxious  to  diminish  a  i)ower  which  might  be  employed  to 
his  own  advantage,  and  all  of  them  by  turns  encouraged 
the  aggressions  of  the  Papacy  with  a  short-sighted  wisdom, 
to  be  an  instrument  of  offence  against  their  enemies. 
Little  encouragement,  indeed,  was  offered  at  this  time  to 
the  spiritual  despot.  Though  Hildebrand  died  a  refugee, 
it  was  remarked  Avith  j)ious  awe  that  Henry  IV.,  his  rival 
and  opponent,  was  punished  in  a  manner  which  showed 
the  highest  displeasure  of  Heaven.  His  chiklren,  at  the 
instigation  of  the  Pope,  rebelled  against  him.  He  was 
conquered  in  battle  and  taken  prisoner  by  his  youn^-est 


010-1273.] 


THE   FIRST   CRUSADE. 


109 


son.^  He  was  stripped  of  all  his  possessions,  and  at  last,  so 
destitute  and  forsaken  that  he  begged  for  a  sub-chanter's 
pLace  in  a  village  church  for  the  sake  of  its  wretched 
salary,  and  died  in  such  extremity  of  want  and  desolation 
that  hunger  shortened  his  days.  For  five  years  his  body 
was  left  without  the  decencies  of  interment  in  a  cellar  in 
the  town  of  Spires. 

The  First  Crusade  (1096-1099).— Whilst  the  two 

Emperors  Henry  IV.  and  Henry  V.  were  engaged  in  a 
violent  struggle  with  the  popes,  an  immense  movement 
was  now  to  take  place  in  the  European  mind,  which  had 
the  greatest  influence  on  the  authority  of  Rome.     About 
the  year  1090,  the  Turks,  a  horde  of  savage  mountaineers 
from  the  Caucasus,  who  having  driven  the  Saracens  from 
Jerusalem,  and  become  masters  of  the  Holy  Land,  had 
defiled  the  sepulchre  of  Christ,  and  either  carried  off  the 
Christians  into  slavery,  or  treated  them  with  intolera})le 
cruelty  and   oppression.      The  Greek  Emperor,   Alexis 
Comnenus,   himself  menaced    by  the   Turks,   encamped 
before  Constantinople,  filled  all  the  courts  of  Christendom 
with  his  cries  of  distress.     But  the  danger  threatening 
this  last  relic  of  the  Roman  empire  failed  to  arouse  the 
Western  Christians  from  tlieir  indifference.      The  first 
French  Pope,  Sylvester,  had  already  addressed  in  vain  an 
eloquent  letter  to  the  European  i)rinces,  in  the  name  of 
Jerusalem  forsaken;  and  though  at  one  moment  the  reso- 
lute Gregory  VII.  (Hildebrand)  was  desirous  of  placing 
himself  at  the  head  of  50,000  knights,  to  go  to  the  rescue 
of  the  Holy  Sepulchre,  he  was  too  much  engaged  in  his 
disputes  with  the  Emperor  of  Germany  to  bestow  much 
attention  to  the  complaints  of  his  persecuted  brethren  in 
Palestine.     That   in  which  Emperors  and  Popes  alike 
failed,  was  accomplished  by  a  poor  monk,  Peter  the  Her- 
mit, who  had  lately  returned  from  a  pilgrimage  to  Jeru- 
salem, and  who  made  all  France  ring  with  his  pathetic 
recital  of  the  treatment  which  the  Christians  there  experi- 
enced from  the  Turks.     At  the   Council  of  Clermont, 
summoned  in  1095,  a  crusade  against  the  enemies  of  the 
faith  was  proclaimed,  and  from  all  parts  of  Europe  a  great 


110 


HISTORY  OF  GERMANY. 


[PERIOD  IV. 


crv  of  approval  was  uttered  in  all  tongues,  for  it  Lit  t  le 
ri^lit  chord  in  the  ferocious  and  superstitious  heart  of  the 
world;  and  it  was  felt  that  the  great  battle  of  the  Cross 
and  the  Crescent  was  most  fitly  to  bo  decided  for  ever  on 
the  soil  of  the  Holy  Land. 

As  Germany  was  at  that  time  wholly  occupied  witli 
her  internal  dissensions  and  struggle  with  the  popes,  she 
took  scarcely  any  part  in  this  first  movement.  Ihe  suu- 
iect  of  the  subsequent  crusades,  therefore,  in  which  the 
German   Emperors  figured,  will  be  treated  of  m  their 

proper  periods.  ,  ^    .   ji 

Henry  V.  (1106-1125).— Henry  soon  found  that  the 
throne  lie  had  so  basely  usurped  was  not  likely  to  reward 
him  for  the  sacrifice  of  duty  and  conscience.    Pope  Pascal, 
in  a  council  at  Troyes,  renewed  the  declarations  against 
investiture,  absolutely  prohibiting  every  ecclesiastic,  of 
whatever  grade,  to  do  homage  to  a  layman.     The  menace 
was  disregarded  ;  but  Henry  meditated  open  violence.    In 
defiance  of  the  Papal  claim,  he  recommenced  the  struggle 
with  Pascal  II.  on  the  subject  of  the  imperial  nght  of 
investiture  by  cross  and  ring.    He  was  a  more  formidable 
enemy  than  his  father,  for  he  knew  well  how  to  employ 
trick  and  duplicity  in  addition  to  force  of  arms.    Early  in 
the  year  1110,  Henry,  at  the  head  of  the  most  formidablo 
army  which  for  ages  had  passed  the  Alps,  hastened  to 
Pvome.      A   solemn   treaty  was   about   to  be   concluded 
between  him  and  the  Pope;  but,  when  they  came  to  tho 
conditions,  there  arose  on  the  part  of  the  Italian  and 
German  bishops  an  angry  opposition  and  long  dispute. 
In  the  midst  of  the  disorder  one  of  the  German  knights 
exclaimed:  *'  What  is  the  good  of  all  this  noise?     It  is 
enough  for  you  to  know  that  our  lord,  the  Emperor, 
wishes  to  be  crowned  like  those  before  him,  both  Charle- 
mar^ne,  Louis,  and  the  rest."     The  Pope  replied  that  ho 
could  not  consent  thereto  until  Henry  had  renounced  by  a 
solemn  oath  his  right  of  investiture.     Thereupon,  Henry, 
upon  the  advice  of  his  chancellor  Adalbert,  and  Burchard, 
bishop  of  Munsteu,  called  in  his  guards,  who  made  tho 
Pope  and  the  cardinals  prisoners.     This  bold  action  pre- 


919-1273.] 


HENRY  v. 


Ill 


cipitated  an  appeal  to  arms.  The  Pomans,  furious  at  such 
violence,  attacked,  next  morning,  the  Germans  encami^ed 
round  St.  Peter's  church.  The  Emperor  instantly  leaped 
on  his  horse,  rushed  madly  from  the  lower  marble  steps 
of  the  church  upon  the  crowd,  and  pierced  five  Ptomans 
with  his  lance.  But,  being  wounded,  he  fell  from  his 
horse.  ^  Otho,  count  of  Milan,  saved  Henry's  life  even  at 
the  price  of  his  own;  for,  proin])tly  giving  him  his  own 
steed,  he  fell  into  the  hands  of  the  Bomans,  who  cut  him 
in  pieces.  A  murderous  carnage  was  kept  up  all  day, 
until  towards  evening  the  Emperor  himself  excited  the 
bellicose  fury  of  his  followers  to  a  final  onslaught.  The 
Romans  suffered  a  terrible  defeat,  one  portion  being 
hurled  into  the  Tiber  and  another  driven  into  the  city^ 
the  Leonine  quarter,  with  that  of  St.  Peter  remaining  in 
the  hands  of  the  Germans.  Henry,  however,  quickly 
abandoned  the  Eternal  City,  dragging  with  hiin  his  pri- 
soners, to  ravage  the  environs.  The  Romans,  reduced  to 
the  extremity  of  fiimine,  urgently  supplicated  the  Pope  to 
make  peace  with  the  Emperor.  Pascal,  who  had  already 
been  for  sixty-one  days  a  prisoner,  stripped,  w^e  are  told, 
of  his  pontificial  ornaments,  and,  like  the  vilest  malefactor, 
tied  with  cords,  willingly  consented  to  an  accommodation. 
He  agreed  that  the  Emperor  should  keep  the  right  of 
investiture  with  cross  and  ring,  promising  at  the  same 
time  never  to  launch  any  excommunication  on  account  of 
what  had  passed.  The  treaty  was  sworn  to  by  twehe 
cardinals  and  by  twelve  princes  on  the  part  of  Henry. 
The  Emperor  was  then  solemnly  crowned  in  St.  Peter's 
by  Pascal,  13th  Ajn-il  1111;  but  scarcely  were  the  Ger- 
mans out  of  Rome  than  all  the  clergy  loudly  blamed  the 
Pope,  and  compelled  him  to  assemble  a  council  at  the 
Lateran,  which  pronounced  the  treaty  null  and  void,  as 
having  been  extorted  by  violence. 

So  long  as  Pascal  lived,  Henry  ran  no  risk  of  an  excom- 
munication, but  the  papal  legates  and  numerous  higli 
dignitaries  of  the  church,  by  launching  a  ban  against 
him,  created  thereby  a  cause  of  fresh  divisions  and  renewed 
agitations.     A  great  portion  of  the  princes  of  the  empii-e 


112 


HISTORY  OF   GERMANY.  [PERIOD  IV. 


refused  oLedience  to  the  Emperor,  and  a  reign  of  arbitrary 
iron-handedness,  brigandage,  pillage,  and  murder  pre- 
vailed. At  length,  in  1122,  the  two  parties,  wearied 
with  the  strife,  concluded  a  solemn  treaty,  called  the 
Concordat  of  Worms,  by  which  mutual  concessions  were 
made,  and  the  rights  of  Emperor  and  Pope  clearly  defined. 
The  Emperor  consented  to  the  clergy  choosing  the  bishops 
and  abbots,  and  renounced  the  act  of  investiture  by  cross 
and  ring;  but,  on  the  other  hand,  the  election  could  only 
be  made  in  the  Emperor's  presence,  or  that  of  his  repre- 
sentative; and  in  case  of  incertitude  or  dispute  arising, 
he  was  to  have  the  decisive  voice.  In  the  matter  of  tem- 
poralities, investiture  of  a  fief  was  to  be  given  by  the 
sceptre,  the  ecclesiastical  consecration  of  the  bishop-elect 
to  take  place  in  Germany  after  such  investiture;  but  in 
Italy  it  was  to  precede  it.  Men  of  peace  rejoiced  ex- 
ceedingly at  this  reconciliation,  and  both  sides  separated, 
say  the  chronicles  of  the  period,  with  infinite  testimonies 
of  joy. 

The  Emperor  reigned  only  three  years  after,  at  peace 
with  the  church,  it  is  true,  but  not  without  being  tormen- 
ted with  insurrections  in  the  empire,  which  had  become 
a  theatre  of  violence  and  devastation,  and  desolated  with 
sword  and  fire.  Henry  died  of  a  cancer  at  Utrecht,  in 
1 125,  aged  forty,  leaving  no  children,  and  with  him  ended 
the  Salic  or  Frankish  house  of  Saxony. 

Lothar  of  Saxony,  Count  of  Supplinburg  (1125-1137). 
— The  extinction  of  the  house  of  Franconia  summoned 
once  more  the  German  princes  and  nobles  to  the  banks  of 
the  Khine,  near  Mayence,  for  the  purpose  of  electing  a 
successor  to  Henry  V.  Of  ten  princes  selected  from  the 
four  principal  nations  of  Germany — Saxons,  Franconians, 
Swabians,  and  Bavarians — three  candidates  only  were 
chosen  to  contend  for  the  imperial  crown.  These  were, 
Frederick,  duke  of  Swabia,  brother-in-law  of  the  late 
Emperor,  Lothar  of  Saxony,  and  Leopold  of  Austria. 
The  two  last  humbly  begged  with  tearful  eyes  to  bo 
spared  the  heavy  burden.  Frederick,  on  the  contrary, 
in  the  pride  of  his  nature,  thought  that  the  throne  should 


\ 


\ 


)i 


^ 


019-1273.] 


LOTUAR  OF   SAXONY. 


113 


belong  to  no  one  but  himself,  and  even  allowed  that 
pretension  to  be  plainly  visible  on  his  countenance. 
Adalbert,  archbishop  of  Mayence,  of  himself  by  no  means 
friendly  disposed  to  the  house  of  Hohenstaufen,  then 
asked  the  three  candidates  whether  each  of  them  was 
ready  to  submit  himself  willingly  to  him  who  should 
be  chosen.  The  two  latter  consented;  but  Frederick 
hesitated  and  quitted  the  assembly  under  pretext  of 
going  to  ask  the  advice  of  his  friends.  This  conduct 
so  highly  offended  the  other  princes  that,  at  the  insti- 
gation of  Adelbert,  Lothar  of  Saxony  was  chosen  against 
his  inclination. 


h 


MAYENCE. 

Shortly  after  his  accession,  Lothar  renounced  all  the 
prerogatives  which  his  predecessor  had  obtained  by  the 
Concordat  of  Worms,  and  even  consented  to  hold  his 
crown  as  a  vassal  of  the  Holy  See.  He  was  forced  into 
making  these  concessions  through  the  relentless  hostility 
of  the  two  i)uissant  dukes  of  Hohenstaufen,  Frederick  of 
Saxony,  and  Conrad  of  Franconia,  with  whom  he  waged 
a  sanguinary  war  during  the  greater  part  of  his  reign; 
until  at  length  the  dukes  found  themselves  compelIed,'^in 
the  year  1135,  to  submit  to  the  imperial  power.  In  this 
P5truggle,  Lothar,  to  strengthen  his  party,  had  recom-qe  te* 


lU 


HISTORY   OF   GERMANY.  [PERIOD  IV* 


a  means  wliicli  became  the  cause  of  a  centiuy  of  strife 
and  desolation.    He  married  his  only  daughter,  Gertrude, 
to  Henry  the  Proiidy  duke  of  Bavaria,  a  prince  already 
powerful,  of  the  Guelphic  house,  and  gave  him  the  duchy 
of  Saxony  in  addition  to  that  of  Bavaria.     It  was  the 
first  time  that  the  two  duchies  had  been  united  under  the 
same  duke.     Further,  he  received  as  a  fief,  with  the  con- 
sent of  the  Pope,  and  under  the  condition  of  reversion  to 
the  Eoman  Church  after  Henry's  death,  the  rich  inherit- 
ance of  the  Princess  INIatilda  of  Tuscany;  so  that  the 
domination  of  Henry  extended  from  the  Elbe  to  a  long 
way  on  the  other  side  of  the  Alps,  and  was  greater  eveu 
than  that  of  the  Emperor.     Such  was  the  commencement 
of  the  riviilry  between  the  Guelphs  and  the  Hohenstaufens 
or  Waiblingers  (so  called  from  a  fortress  of  that  name), 
and  later  Ghibellines  by  the  Italians.    During  a  hundred 
years  the  party  watchwords  of  "  Guelphs"  and  "  Ghibel- 
lines "  resounded  from  Etna  and  Vesuvius  to  the  shores 
of  the  Baltic  and  the  North  Sea.     The  entire  reign  of 
Lothar  was  so  troubled  by  his  struggles  with  the  Hohen- 
staufens, and  by  his  expeditions  into  Italy,  that  of  all  the 
sanguine  hopes  which  had  been  conceived  of  his  prudent, 
pious,  and  chivalrous  character,  none  was  destined  to  be 

realised. 

Lothar  fell  sick  during  his  last  Italian  campaign,  which 
was  otherwise  veiy  glorious,  in  1137,  and  died  in  a  pea- 
sant's hut,  amidst  the  savage  forests  of  the  Tyrol.  Hia 
body  was  carried  back  to  Saxony,  and  buried  in  the 
monastery  of  Konigslutter,  which  he  had  himself  founded. 

If  the  two  princely  houses  of  the  Guelphs  and  Ghibel- 
lines attracted  universal  attention  at  this  time,  a  third, 
which  rose  under  this  reign,  merits  also  some  notice. 
Lothar  had  given  the  Margi-aviate  of  North  Saxony  to 
Albert  the  Bear,  of  the  house  of  Anhalt,  one  of  the  most 
remarkable  men  of  his  age.  After  subduing  the  middle 
and  southern  marches,  he,  in  order  to  stimulate  their 
inhabitants  to  activity  in  useful  industry,  invited  a  large 
immigi-ation  of  agricultural  labourers  from  Flanders.  He 
may  therefore  be  regarded  as  the  founder  of  the  mar- 


919-1273.] 


THE   HOUSE   OF   SWABIA. 


115 


gi\aviate  of  Brandenburg;  and  it  was  also  under  him,  in 
the  middle  of  the  twelfth  century,  that  the  name  of  Ber- 
lin first  appeared,  and  that  city  consequently  had  its 
origin  about  the  same  time  that  Leopold  of  Austria  laid 
the  foundations  of  Vienna. 

The  House  of  Swabia  or  Hohenstaufen  (1138-1154) 
—Conrad  III.  (1138-1152).— The  empire  was  now  divided 
into  two  parties,  the  Guclj^hs  or  followers  of  Henry  the 
Proudy  Duke  of  Bavaria  and  Saxony,  and  the  Ghibellines, 
who  were  adherents  of  the  Hohenstaufen.  The  latter 
assembled  a  diet  at  Coblcntz;  and  on  this  occasion  the 
choice  did  not  fall  upon  him  who  thought  himself  certain 
of  the  crown,  that  is  to  say,  upon  Lothar's  son-in-law  and 
sole  heir,  Henry  the  Proud,  although  he  had  already  in 
his  hands  the  crown  jewels.  The  princes,  offended  by 
his  pride,  elected  Conrad  of  Hohenstaufen,  who  had 
gained  wisdom  by  misfortune,  and  to  whom  Frederick, 
his  elder  brother,  the  former  rival  of  Lothar,  willingly 
gave  way.  Henry  the  Proud  refusing  submission  to  the 
new  Emperor,  he  was  jilaced  under  ban,  his  two  duchies 
confiscated,  Bavaria  being  given  to  the  margrave  of  Aus- 
tria, Leoi)old,  uterine  brother  of  the  Emperor,  and  Saxony 
to  Albert  the  Bear  of  Brandenburg.  Henry  died  soon 
afterwards,  leaving  a  son  aged  16,  who  became  sub- 
sequently celebrated  by  the  name  of  Henry  the  Lion. 

Meanwhile,  the  vassals  of  the  house  of  Guel])h  had 
zealously  espoused  the  cause  of  their  lords  and  were 
fighting  manfully  against  the  Ghibellines  in  Bavaria  and 
Swabia  whilst  Duke  GucJph,  the  brother  of  Henry,  shut 
himself  up  in  the  fortress  of  Weinsberg,  in  Wiirtemberg. 
After  a  battle  fought  before  Weinsberg,  in  which  Duke 
Guelpli  ventured  to  measure  his  strength  against  the 
Emperor,  and  was  completely  defeated,  the  garrison  of 
the  fortress  capitulated  on  condition  that  all  the  women 
should  be  allowed  to  depart,  taking  with  them  as  much 
of  their  property  as  they  could  cavvj.  When,  at  da}^- 
break,  the  gates  were  opened,  the  duchess  came  forth 
bearing  her  husband  on  her  shoulders,  followed  by  a  long 
line  of  women  carrying  a  like  burthen  either  husband  or 


IIG 


HISTORY    OF   GERMANY.  [PERIOD  IV. 


relative  most  dear  to  them.  The  Emperor,  irritated  by 
tlie  long  resistance  of  the  city,  had  determined  to  subject 
it  to  fire  and  sword,  but  was  so  touched  at  the  sight,  that 
when  his  chiefs  urged  him  to  send  back  the  men,  on  the 
score  that  they  had  obtained  their  liberty  by  a  trick,  the 
generous  Conrad  replied,  "When  an  Emperor  i)ledgos  his 
word,  it  must  be  kept,"  and  he  not  only  pardoned  the 
men,  but  the  entire  city."^  The  steep  hill,  down  which 
this  extniordinary  procession  wound,  still  retains  th3 
name  of  Weibertreue  {woniait  s  fidelit u). 

The  Second  Crusade  (1LU-1U9).— In  the  year  11 II, 
intellisrence  was  received  which  forced  on  the  nations  of 
Europe  the  conviction  that  a  new  crusade  must  be  under- 
taken, or  the  Holy  City  be  abandoned  to  the  infidels. 
Pope  Eugenius  II.  sent  forth,  therefore,  Bernard,  abbot 
of  Clairvaux,  the  adversary  of  Abelard,  to  preach  a 
second  crusade  in  France  and  Germany,  but  already  the 
universal  zeal  of  Christendom  had  grown  cooler.  The 
King  of  France,  Louis  VII.,  whose  conscience  was  sorely 
burthened  by  remorse  for  having  permitted  a  horiiblo 
massacre  in  a  church  in  Champagne,  promised  to  march 
a  large  army  into  Palestine,  in  the  hoi)e  of  expiating  hi.s 
guilt;  but  the  Emperor  Conrad,  who  thought  that  he  had 
done  enough  for  the  welfare  of  his  soul  in  making  a  pil- 
grimage to  Jerusalem,  was  dis[)osed  to  turn  a  deaf  ear  to 
the  preaching  of  St.  Bernard,  and  declared  that  he  could 
do  nothing  without  the  advice  of  his  nobles.  At  a  diet 
held  at  Spires  for  this  purpose,  Bernard  urged  Conrad 
from  the  altar  with  such  stirring  eloquence  to  succour 
his  persecuted  brother  Christians,  in  token  of  his  gratitude 
for  the  mercies  and  blessings  which  God  had  showered 
upon  him,  that  the  German  Emi)eror  no  longer  hesitated 
to  "  take  the  cross."  His  exam2)le  was  followed  by  his 
nephew  Frederick,  his  former  enemy,  the  old  Duke 
Guelj'jh,  and  many  others.  Conrad's  army  is  said  to 
have  numbered  G0,000  men  in  arms,  besides  a  host  of 
pilgrims,  who  availed  themselves  of  his   protection  to 

*  This  incident  is  related  in  a  chronicle  of  that  time,  that  of 
Saint  Pantaleon; 


919-1273.] 


THE   SECOND   CRUSADE. 


117 


visit  the  Holy  Sepulchre.  The  command  of  the  expedi- 
tion was  offered  to  St.  Bernard,  but  he,  remembering 
Peter  the  Hermit,  refused.  Conrad  and  his  Germans 
had  preceded  Louis  of  France  in  the  march,  and  were 
already  in  Asia  Minor;  but,  treacherously  misled  by  their 
Greek  guides,  they  lost  their  way  in  the  defiles  of  the 
Taurus,  and  were  cut  to  pieces  by  the  Turks;  Conrad 
and  his  nephew  Barbarossa,  with  a  few  followers,  escap- 
ing by  the  superior  swiftness  of  their  horses.  Louis, 
warned  of  the  danger  of  attempting  this  mountain  route, 
took  the  longer  but  safer  way  by  the  sea-coast,  and  his 
army  was  encouraged  by  a  victory  over  the  Turks  on  the 
INIfeander;  but  beyond  Laodicea,  they  entered  on  narrow 
defiles,  where,  through  the  incapacity  of  the  commanders, 
the  troops  marched  in  two  separate  bodies.  The  Turks 
fell  uj)on  the  rear,  made  a  terrible  slaughter,  and  tho 
King  having  fought  for  a  long  time  alone — all  the  nobles 
of  his  escort  having  been  slain — escaped  with  the  greatest 
difficulty,  with  the  loss  of  all  his  baggage  and  provisions. 

After  encoimtering  innimierable  perils,  Conrad,  sick 
and  dejected,  at  length  reached  the  Holy  Land  with  less 
than  a  tenth  of  his  army.  He  saw  Jerusalem  and  the 
different  stations  of  the  Cross,  and  there  offered  up  his 
prayers;  but  this  was  all  the  fruit  of  his  ill-starred 
enterprise.  Conrad  and  Louis,  as  a  last  effort,  laid  siege 
to  Damascus,  but  though  the  Emperor  and  his  Germans 
performed  prodigies  of  valour,  disunion  and  want  of  dis- 
cipline, together  with  the  treachery  of  the  Greeks  and 
Templars,  rendered  the  attempt  abortive.  The  siege 
was  raised,  and  Europe  saw  but  very  few  of  those  return 
who  had  set  out  on  this  second  mad  and  destructive  expe- 
dition. The  first  crusade  had  at  least  attained  its  object, 
it  had  delivered  Jerusalem ;  the  second  had  uselessly  shed 
torrents  of  Christian  blood.  After  it,  Palestine  found 
itself  weaker,  Islamism  stronger,  and  the  Crusadei^  derived 
nothing  from  it  but  shame  and  dishonour. 

It  was  during:;  this  crusade  that  the  double  eaijle  was 
first  adopted  as  the  arms  of  the  empire.  The  two  sove- 
reigns of  Greece  and  Germany  being  in  alliance  to  defend 


118 


HISTORY   OP   GERMANY.  [PERIOD  IV. 


the  Christian  religion  against  the  infidels,  their  union 
was  typified  by  that  heraklic  symbol,  which  became  hence- 
forth the  cognisance  of  both. 

Conrad  returned  from  the  Holy  Land  only  to  die  at 
Bamberg  in  1152,  some  writers  say  of  poison,  whilst 
busied  with  prejmrations  for  a  campaign  against  Guelph, 
Avho  was  conspiring  against  him  with  the  Norman,  Koger 
of  Naples.  Conrad  III.  was  a  brave  and  noble-minded 
prince,  and  universally  esteemed.  Instead  of  designating 
as  his  successor  his  own  son,  yet  too  young  to  govern,  he 
recommended  Frederick  of  Swabia,  his  valiant  nephew, 
"who  had  taken  part  with  him  in  the  crusade,  and  he  was 
elected  with  unanimity. 

Frederick  I.  sumamed  by  the  Italians  Barbarossa 
{Red-heard)  (1152-1190).— This  Frederick,  the  first  Gor- 
man Emperor  of  his  name,  was  the  son  of  Conrad's 
brother  Frederick,  Duke  of  Swabia,  by  Judith,  daughter 
of  Henry  the  Black,  Duke  of  Bavaria.  A  Ghibelline  on 
his  father^s  side,  and  a  Guelph  on  that  of  his;  mother,  it 
was  hoiked  that  on  his  accession  to  the  throne  a  cessation 
of  the  sanguinary  rivalry  between  the  two  fiimilies  would 
ensue;  and,  indeed,  one  of  his  first  measures  in  Germany 
was  in  favour  of  the  Guelphs;  for,  in  1152,  he  restored 
the  duchy  of  Bavaria  to  Henry  the  Lion,  son  of  Henry 
the  Proud,  who  thus  became,  like  his  fiither,  possessor  at 
once  of  the  duchies  of  Saxony  and  Bavaria,  and  conse* 
quently  the  most  powerful  prince  in  Germany. 

The  reconciliation  of  the  first  jn-inccs  of  Germany  caused 
a  universal  joy,  and  Frederick  reckoned  thenceforth 
firmly  upon  the  support  of  his  young  friend  Henry  the 
Lion  in  his  enterprises.  The  new  Emperor  took  in  hand 
with  equal  vigour  the  other  interests  of  the  empire,  over- 
throwing the  strongholds  of  the  robber  knights,  making 
them  answerable  to  the  law  for  their  misdeeds,  and  show- 
ing himself  on  all  hands  as  the  protector  of  order  arul 
justice  among  the  German  peoi>le. 

At  his  accession,  Frederick  was  in  the  prime  of  man- 
hood. Stalwai-t  of  frame  and  above  the  middle  height, 
his  complexion  was  clear  and  ruddy,  with  fair  hair  ciirl- 


Ma-1273.] 


FREDERICK   I. 


119 


ing  crisply  over  a  broad  and  lofty  brow,  penetrating  bluo 
eyes,  and  well-cut  mouth,  his  manly  form  presented  alto- 
gether an  admii-able  type  of  the  ancient  German  race. 
From  the  reddish  tinge  of  his  beard,  he  obtained  during 
his  Italian  campaigns  the  surname  of  Barbarossa.  A 
natural  afiability  gave  to  his  countenance  that  pleasing 
expression  which  is  calculated  to  win  all  hearts,  whilst 
his  firm  step  and  noble  demeanour  denoted  a  prince  born 
to  command.  The  rough  life  to  which  he  had  been 
exposed  during  the  crusade  had  inured  his  frame  to  bear 
the  extremes  of  heat  and  cold,  hunger,  thirst,  and  privation 
of  every  kind.  Sincerely  pious,  but  in  nowise  a  bigot,  he 
was,  whilst  firmly  opposed  to  the  pretensions  which  the 
])apacy  had  been  long  steadily  advancing  to  universal 
dominion,  careful  not  to  come  into  collision  unprepared 
with  one  of  the  most  unsparing  of  human  forces. 

The  countries  bordering  on  Germany  gave  him  an 
opportunity  of  investing  the  imperial  crown  with  a  fresh 
lustre.  In  the  first  Diet  which  he  held  at  Merseburg 
(1152),  he  settled  a  quarrel  between  the  two  Danish 
princes  Sweyn  and  Canute,  on  the  subject  of  the  kingdom  of 
Denmark.  Canute  had  Zealand,  but  Sweyn  had  the  crown, 
which  he  received  from  the  hands  of  Frederick,  and  to 
whom  ho  rendered  homage  as  vassal.  Boleslas,  King  of 
Poland,  owed  him  the  same  homage,  which  he  was  con- 
strained to  pay  by  force  of  arms,  after  a  campaign  in 
Silesia.  Wladislas,  Duke  of  Bohemia,  obtained  the  title 
King  for  his  fidelity  as  a  vassal  in  the  Polish  war,  for 
the  Emperor  alone  could  bestow  such  title.  Geisa,  King 
of  Hungary,  received  his  homage,  and  also  fulfilled  the 
duties  of  a  vassal  in  Frederick's  second  expedition  into 
Italy.  Finally,  in  Burgundy,  which  had  become  almost 
alienated  from  the  empire,  Frederick  re-established  the 
ancient  influence  of  Germany  by  his  marriage  with 
Beatrice,  heiress  of  Upper  Burgundy,  and  he  attached 
to  his  house  that  portion  of  the  old  Burgundian  kmgdom. 
All  the  magnates  of  the  nation  swore  fidelity  to  the  emjnre, 
and  thus  the  imperial  dignity  shone  with  fresh  lustre  under 
the  puissant  monarch  who  governed  Germany. 


120 


HISTORY   05*   GERSIANY.  [pfiRIOD  iV 


919-1273.1 


PREDERICIC   I. 


121 


The  gi^eat  cities  of  Italy  since  the  feeble  and  disorderly 
sway  of  Henry  II.,  had  shown  great  insolence  to  thc^ 
imperial  power,  and  it  was  only  with  repugnance  that 
they  submitted  to  the  rule  of  their  suzerain.  But  of  all 
the  rest,  the  capital  of  Lombardy,  the  potent  city  of  Milan, 
showed  itself  as  the  haughtiest  and  most  insolent.  From 
the  beginning  of  the  eleventh  century,  Milan  had  dis- 
played so  much  vigour  and  energy,  that  it  had  by  degrees 
subjected  several  of  the  neighbouring  cities,  and  affected 
a  contempt  so  insulting  for  the  Emperor's  commands,  that 
on  one  occasion  the  seal  of  a  letter  which  Frederick  had 
written  with  his  own  hand,  in  1153,  was  torn  oflP  and 
trodden  under  foot,  and  the  mandate  itself,  reduced  to 
fragments,  thrown  into  tlie  faces  of  his  envoys.  At  the 
same  time,  deputies  from  the  Lombard  city  of  Lodi  threw 
themselves  at  the  Emperor's  feet,  and  im])lored  his  aid 
against  the  Milanese.  Stung  by  these  insults,  and  thus 
appealed  to,  Frederick  resolved  upon  decisive  measures. 
The  following  year  he  crossed  the  Alps  with  a  formid- 
able army,  and  encamped  on  the  Ptoncalian  plain,  near 
Piacenza,  where  he  set  up  the  imperial  shield  on  a  tall 
pole,  and  commanded  all  his  Italian  vassals  to  assemble 
and  do  homage  on  pain  of  forfeiting  their  fiefs.  In  answer 
to  the  summons,  the  Milanese  ofiered  him  4000  maiks  of 
silver  on  condition  of  being  confirmed  in  the  lordbhip  of 
Lodi  and  Cremona.  Furious  at  the  audacity  of  this  pra- 
l)Osal,  he  determined  to  inflict  a  severe  punishment  upon 
the  proud  city.  Not  having  made,  however,  preparations 
for  besieging  so  strong  a  place,  he  proceeded  to  destroy 
several  of  its  castles,  and  seized  upon  the  two  allied  towns 
of  Asti  and  Tortona.  This  had  the  desired  effect  of 
enforcing  promptly  the  homage  of  most  of  the  other  Lom- 
bard cities;  and  after  causing  himself  to  be  crowned  King 
of  Lombardy,  he  marched  at  once  upon  Eome. 

The  Emperor  found  tlie  Eternal  City  divided  between 
two  factions— the  one,  supporters  of  the  Papal  preten- 
sions, the  other,  the  populace  who,  hurried  away  by  the 
bold  harangues  of  the  reformer,  Arnold  of  Brescia,  sought 
to  re-establish  the  ancient  Roman  republic.     Both  parties 


'/*■ 


implored  aid  of  the  Emperor.  Pope  Adrian  IV.,  terrified 
by  the  violence  of  his  enemies,  had  at  first  taken  refuge 
in  the  strong  fortress  of  Castellana,  but; soon  afterwards 
visited  the  German  camp  upon  the  Emperor's  assurance 
that  he  would  find  safety  therein.  At  the  same  time, 
Arnold  sent  envoys  to  Frederick,  who,  when  in  represent- 
ing the  aspirations  of  the  reformers,  they  spoke  of  the 
ancient  Roman  virtue,  he  interrupted  them  with  the 
insulting  remark,  "  It  is  not  among  you,  effeminate  liars 
as  ye  are,  that  ancient  Rome  and  her  virtues  are  to  be 
found,  but  among  us,  who  are  full  of  vigour  and  truth !" 
It  might  have  been  well,  however,  if  instead  of  thus 
rebuffing  the  radical  reformer's  envoys,  Frederick  had 
made  use  of  Arnold  and  the  Roman  populace  at  this  junc- 
ture in  the  attempt  to  curb  the  arrogant  pretensions  of 
Adrian  IV.  But  the  pious  prince,  doubtless,  felt  repug- 
nance at  making  common  cause  with  an  heretical  leader 
in  what  he  considered  a  design  of  establishing  a  temporal 
republic  rather  than  that  of  effecting  a  great  reform  in 
the  church.  Arnold  thus  left  to  his  own  devices  was 
made  prisoner  by  his  enemies,  and  met  with  summary 
punishment.  The  Emperor,  on  entering  Rome  at  day- 
break, saw  for  the  first  and  last  time  the  pallid  features 
of  the  audacious  republican  illuminated  by  the  earliest 
sunbeam,  as  the  papal  guards  were  leading  him  forth  to 
execution. 

It  was  a  common  practice  of  the  Roman  Church  to 
denounce  a  man  as  a  heretic  who  either  rejected  its  doc- 
trines or  manifested  hostility  to  its  corruptions.  Arnold 
of  Brescia,  in  whatever  light  Frederick  Barbarossa,  as  a 
good  son  of  the  church,  looked  upon  him,  might  never- 
theless have  been  sincere  in  his  desire  to  reform  that 
church,  and  although  a  formidable  adversaiy  to  kings 
and  priests,  entirely  unselfish  in  his  attempt  to  rid  the 
Roman  people  of  sacerdotal  tyranny.  However  that 
might  be,  the  citizens  of  Rome,  disheartened  and  dis- 
mayed, admitted  the  Emperor  without  resistance,  who  at 
once  summoned  the  Pope  to  perform  the  ceremonial  of  his 
coronation.     Adrian  IV.,  an  Englishman  named  Nicholas 


122 


HISTORY   OF   GERMANY.  [PERIOD  iV. 


Breakspear,  the  only  native  of  that  country  ever  pro- 
moted to  the  Papal  dignity,  on  his  arrival  from  the  camp, 
awaited,  before  dismounting  from  his  mule,  the  attendance 
of  the  Emperor  to  hold  his  stirrup,  as  had  been  the  custom 
of  his  predecessors.  But  as  Frederick  did  not  make  his 
appearance,  the  cardinals  who  accompanied  the  Pope  fled 
back  to  Castellana,  regarding  such  negligence  as  a  sign  of 
the  evil  intentions  of  the  Emperor.  When,  however, 
Adrian  at  length  dismounted  and  placed  himself  in  his 
chair  at  St.  Peter's,  Frederick  threw  himself  at  his  feet 
and  kissed  them.  Thereupon  the  Pope  took  courage,  and 
reproached  Frederick  for  not  having  given  him  the  mark 
of  deference  he  owed  him.  The  Emperor,  on  being 
assured  by  the  princes  present,  that  Lotliar  himself  had 
gone  through  that  form  of  respect  to  Pope  Innocent  II.,  the 
ceremony  of  dismounting  was  aiTanged  to  be  recommenced 
on  the  day  following,  wlien,  as  the  Italian  chroniclei-s  say, 
Frederick  duly  held  the  stirrup.  The  German  writers, 
on  the  contrary,  relate  that  the  Emperor  did  in  fact  hold 
the  stirrup,  but,  as  through  inadvei-tence  he  had  held  the 
right  instead  of  the  left,  the  Pope  refused  him  "  the  kiss 
of  Peace."  In  the  end,  however,  the  Emperor  yielding  to 
the  solicitations  of  the  princes,  both  embraced  as  friends, 
and  Adrian  placed  the  imperial  crown  on  Frederick's 
head. 

Meanwhile  the  citizens,  furious  at  the  loss  of  their 
leader,  rose  in  mass,  and  Frederick,  whose  horse  chanced 
to  Ml  as  he  charged  the  insurgents,  would  have  lost  his 
life  but  for  the  courage  of  Henry  (he  Lion,  who  rescued 
him  from  a  host  of  enemies.  A  terrible  slaughter  ensued, 
and  Pome  was  taken  only  to  be  abandoned  almost  imme- 
diately by  the  victor,  whose  men  had  begun  to  fall  victims 
to  the  pestilential  onslaught  of  Koman  fever. 

Marching  south,  with  the  intention  of  chastising  the 
Kormans,  Frederick's  expedition  failed  from  the  same 
cause— -the  unhealthiness  of  the  climate,  lletreating 
with  his  decimated  army  towards  the  Alps,  he  cut  his 
way  with  difliculty  through  the  treacherous  Italians  of 
the   north  who   blockaded   the   passes,    and   ultimately 


D19-1273.] 


FREDERICK   I. 


123 


reached  Germany  in  safety.  Soon  afterwards,  the  Em- 
peror obtamed  peace  in  Upper  Italy  by  granting  a  con- 
stitution to  the  cities,  to  the  terms  of  which  all  male 
persons  between  the  ages  of  eighteen  and  seventy  were 
required  to  swear  obedience,  and  to  renew  their  oath 
every  five  years. 

The  quarrel  between  Pope  and  Emperor,  however, 
was  renewed  after  a  momentary  reconciliation  through 
Adrian's  intrigues  with  the  German  bishops,  and  con- 
tinued until  that  pontiffs  death  in  1159.  Ecclesiastical 
affairs  then  became  even  more  embroiled  through  the 
Emperor's  party  haAing  chosen  for  Adrian's  successor, 
Victor  III.,  while  that  of  the  cardinal's  elected  Alex- 
ander III.,  a  cardinal  who  had  behaved  with  the 
greatest  insolence  before  the  German  Diet,  in  resisting 
-what  he  called  the  encroachments  of  the  Emperor.  The 
schism  between  the  cardinals  and  the  emperors^  lasted 
for  a  long  i)criod.  They  each  insisted  on  the  right  to 
elect  the'Pope;  and  consequently  there  were  frequently 
two  popes,  who  were  of  course  bitter  antagonists,  each 
insisting  on  his  own  right,  and  calling  the  other  antl-popc, 
launching  their  excommunications  against  each  other,  and 
both  parties  seeking  to  strengthen  themselves  by  every 

means  possible. 

The  imperial  power  being  still  resisted  in  Italy,  and 
the  city  of  Lodi,  which  had  submitted  to  it,  laid  in  ashes 
by  the  Milanese,  Frederick,  at  the  head  of  a  powerful 
army,  crossed  the  Alps  at  the  Pentecost  of  1158,  and 
laid  siege  to  Milan.  Awed  by  the  presence  of  so  formid- 
able a  fbrce,  almost  all  the  cities  of  Northern  Italy  sub- 
mitted and  joined  the  Emperor.  Mihin,  the  rebellious, 
was  soon  conqujlled  to  surrender  from  want  of  provisions 
to  the  irritated  suzerain.  The  Milanese  appeared  before 
the  victor  praying  for  mercy  in  the  most  abject  and  sup- 
pliant manner,  the  chief  nobles  with  naked  swords  hung 
round  their  necks,  and  the  citizens  with  halters,  laymen 
and  clerics  alike  being  clad  in  mourning  garments,  with 
their  feet  bare.  Frederick  pardoned  his  rebellious  vassals 
•with  the  remark,  that  "  they  might  now  see  that  it  was 


124 


HiSTORt   OF   GERMANY.  [PERIOD  IV. 


easier  to  prevail  by  submission  than  by  the  arbitrament 
of  arms."  He  then  made  them  asjain  swear  alleGriance  to 
him,  exacted  a  sum  of  9000  marks  in  silver,  a  promise  to 
build  him  a  pahxce  in  their  city,  took  300  hostages,  and 
placed  the  imperial  eagle  on  the  roof  of  their  cathedral. 

But  this  humiliation  of  the  IMilanese  was  only  feigned, 
and  an  expedient  resorted  to  from  necessity,  which  only 
lasted  whilst  the  Emperor's  forces  terrified  them.  For, 
in  the  year  following,  when  he  desired,  conformably  with 
his  prerogative,  to  api)oint  burgomasters  in  Milan,  the 
citizens  fell  upon  Kainald,  his  chancellor,  Otho,  the  Count 
Palatine,  and  the  other  envoys  with  such  fury  that  it 
was  with  the  greatest  difficulty  their  lives  were  saved. 
Frederick  once  more  ])laced  Milan  under  the  ban  of  the 
«mpire,  and  swore  in  his  wrath  never  again  to  place  the 
crown  on  his  head  until  he  had  reduced  tlie  insolent  city 
to  a  heap  of  ruins. 

Hostilities  recommenced  with  all  the  fury  of  the  wars 
of  that  period.  The  IMilanese  sought  safety  in  attempting 
the  assassination  of  the  i)owerful  Emperor  who  menaced 
them;  at  least,  we  are  told  by  contemi)orary  writei^  that 
several  attempts  to  murder  Frederick  Barbarossa  were 
made  when  he  lay  with  his  army  before  Milan.  These 
dastardly  attacks  upon  the  Emperor's  life  having  failed 
one  after  another,  the  siege  was  carried  on  more  vigor- 
ously than  ever;  but  the  strong  city  maintained  a  stub- 
born defence  for  nearly  three  years,  during  which  nuich 
blood  was  shed  on  both  sides.  At  length,  exhausted  by 
famine  and  loss  of  its  defenders,  the  starving  Milanese 
siu-rendered  at  discretion.  After  undergoing  a  series  of 
humiliations  in  the  camp  of  the  concpieror,  Frederick 
spared  their  lives,  but  compelled  them  to  place  all  their 
insignia  of  honour,  with  more  than  a  hundred  banners 
and  standards  at  the  foot  of  the  throne.  He  then  sum- 
moned a  council  at  Pavia  to  determine  the  fate  of  Milan, 
and,  in  a  numerous  assemblage  of  German  and  Italian 
bishops,  nobles  and  envoys  from  other  cities,  it  was  de- 
creed that  Milan  should  be  razed  to  its  foundations.  In 
its  prosperity,  Milan  had  so  continually  tormented  the 


910-1273.] 


FREDERICK   I. 


125 


neighbouring  cities  of  Conio,  Lodi,  Pavia,  Vercelli,  No- 
vara,  etc.,  that  deputations  from  those  places  came  to  ask 
as  a  favour  that  they  might  themselves  demolish  the  walls 
of  the  proud  city;  and,  in  their  hatred,  they  set  to  w^ork 
with  such  vigour,  that  in  six  days  they  heaped  up  wider 
ruins  than  hired  labourers  would  have  done  in  many 
months.  Among  other  relics  taken  during  the  sack  of 
the  place,  the  skulls  of  the  JMagi,  or  Wise  Men  of  the 
East,  which  had  been  deposited  at  Milan  during  the  first 
crusade,  were  transferred  by  llainald,  archbishop  of 
Cologne,  to  his  own  cathedral,  where  they  are  still  vene- 
rated under  the  names  of  Caspar,  Melchior,  and  Balthasar, 
the  tlsroe  Kin  as  of  Cologne. 


38V 


COLOGNE   CATHEDRAL. 

But  the  most  dangerous  of  Frederick's  enemies  was  the 
bold  and  politic  Alexander  III.,  who,  after  two  years  of 
exile  passed  in  France)  had  succeeded  in  gaining  over 


'     12G  HISTORY    OF  GERMANY.  [PERIOD  IV. 

Eome  to  Lis  side,  and  had  re-entered  the  Holy  City. 
Frederick,  who  liad  been  excommunicated  by  Alexander, 
hastened  by  forced  marches  to  Rome,  and  compelled  the 
inhabitants  to  receive  Pascal  III. ;  whei-eiii^on  the  anti- 
pope,  finding  that  the  Romans  were  murmuring  at  his 
obstinacy,  fled  secretly  from  the  city  disguised  as  a 
pilgi-im  and  took  refuge  in  Beneventum.  Then  Frederick, 
with  his  consort,  was  crowned  by  Pascal  on  the  1st  Au^^-. 
1167,  in  the  metropolis  of  Christianity. 

It  was  soon,  however,  the  Emperor's  turn  to  floe  from 
a  more  deadly  enemy  than  the  anti-j^ope.     The  German 
army  was  assailed  by  a  terrible  pestilence,  the  attacks  of 
which  were  so  sudden  that  men  seemingly  in  perfect 
health  being  seized  by  giddiness  whilst  walking  through 
the  streets,  fell  dead,  or  expired  in  a  few  hours.   Amongst 
those  who  i)erished  were  eight  bishops,  one  of  whom  \va3 
the  skilful  chancellor,  Rainald  of  Cologne,  four  dukes 
including  the  Emperor's  own  cousin,  Frederick  of  Rothen- 
burg,  and  Guelph  the  younger;  besides  some  thousand 
nobles,  knights,   and  seigniors.     The  Emperor  fled   to 
Pa  via,  and  in  the  following  spring  secretly  quitted  Italy 
in  disguise,  with  a  very  small  suite,  like  a  fugitive.  ' 

Fredeiick  at  length  reached  Germany;  and  it  was  not 
until  1174  that  he  entered  Italy  for  the  fourth  time. 
Meanwhile,  he  had  not  been  idle  whilst  at  home.  Durin<i 
those  seven  years  he  had  strengthened  the  imperial  powei^ 
purged  the  interior  from  intestine  disorder,  esi)ecially 
quelling  the  furious  quarrel  in  Northern  Germany  be- 
tween Henry  the  Lion  and  his  adversaries;  and  at  the 
same  time  increased  his  dominions  by  various  si^^nal 
acquisitions  destined  for  his  five  children  who  were\et 
in  their  youth.  Thus  the  house  of  Hohenstaufen  exten- 
ded Its  roots  and  branches  on  all  sides  like  a  vi<^orous 
and  flourishing  tree.  ^ 

Frederick  next  turned  his  attention  towards   Itiilv 
ever  rebellious.     It  had  become,  however,  more  difticult 
to  hurry  thither  the  German  princes  on  account  of  the 
unhealthmess  of  the  climate;  the  Emperor  therefore  had 
need  of  all  his  eloquence  and  indefatigable  activity  to 


919-1273,1 


BANISHMENT   OF   HENRY. 


127 


raise  an  army.  But,  in  the  autumn  of  1174,  he  crossed 
the  Alps  for  the  fifth  time,  and  laid  siege  to  Alessandria. 
After  remaining  for  seven  months  under  its  walls,  his 
troops  exposed  during  the  winter  to  great  sickness  and 
misery  from  the  camp  being  pitched  in  a  marshy  spot, 
the  Emperor  at  last  found  himself  compelled  to  raise  tlie 
siege  and  change  his  position  so  promptly  as  to  necessitate 
burning  his  tents.  On  the  20th  May  1176,  Frederick 
encountered  the  Lombards  at  Lignano,  in  which  battle 
his  adversaries  having  the  advantage  of  numbers  and 
position,  he  suffered  a  complete  defeat,  was  thrown  from 
his  horse,  and  only  with  difficulty  escaped,  favoured  by 
the  darkness  of  night,  with  a  few  followers.  For  two 
days  he  was  reported  to  have  been  slain,  and  the  empress 
even  wore  mourning.  Shortly  afterwards  the  affairs  of 
Italy  were  happily  settled  by  a  treaty  of  peace,  concluded 
at  Pavia  with  the  Lombards.  As  it  was  found  imprac- 
ticable to  arrange  very  speedily  the  articles  of  this  peace 
with  the  Lombards,  a  suspension  of  arms  for  six  years 
was  agi-eed  to,  and  the  Emperor  returned  to  Germany, 
causing  himself  to  be  crowned  King  of  Burgundy  on  his 
way  thither  at  Aries. 

Banishment  of  Henry  the  Zion.— Whilst  the  House 
of  Hohenstaufen  had  in  Frederick  I.  a  valiant  and  active 
supporter,  that  of  Guelph  found  also  in  Henry  the  Lion 
a  hero  who  gave  to  it  added  lustre.  For,  whilst  the 
Emperor  was  occupied  with  his  great  wars  in  Italy,  the 
former  had  extended  widely  his  conquests  in  Silesia  and 
Pomerania.  Henry  had  been  the  loved  companion  of 
Frederick's  youth,  and  the  latter  naturally  reckoned  upon 
his  loyal  support  in  his  enterprises.  Just  after  the  defeat 
at  Lignano,  the  Emperor  and  Henry  met  at  Chiavenna, 
where  Frederick  was  collecting  all  his  forces  for  a  decisive 
action  against  the  victorious  Lombards.  Henry,  who 
had  lately  returned  from  a  pilgrimage  to  Jerusalem, 
refused  to  join  the  Emperor  in  his  forthcoming  campaign, 
an  offence  which  was  punished  by  the  forfeiture  of  all  his 
possessions,  save  Brunswick  and  Luneburg,  and  banish- 
ment from  the  empire  for  three  years.     Henry  the  Lion 


12^  HISTORY   OF   GERMANY.  [PERIOD  IV. 

retired  to  the  court  of  his  father-in-law,  Henry  II.  {Phui- 
tagenet),  where  liis  wife  Matilda  gave  birth  to  a  son, 
William,  who  became  head  of  that  branch  of  the  House 
of  Hanover  which  now  reigns  in  England. 

Hoping  to  establish  in  the  south  as  in  the  north  of 
Italy,  an  influence  which  should  overawe  the  Pope  and 
the  Lombards,  the  Emperor  married  his  eldest  son  to 
Constance,  heiress  presumptive  of  the  kingdoms  of  Naples 
and  Sicily.  "  Italy,"  he  said,  "  was  like  an  eel,  which  a 
man  had  need  to  griisp  firmly  by  the  tail,  the  head,  and 
the  middle,  and  which  might  nevei-theless  give  him  the 
slip."  The  Pope  siiw  the  danger,  and  in  his  exasperation 
at  the  marriage,  excommunicated  those  bishops  who  had 
oiHciated  at  the  ceremony.  Another  broil  between  the 
si)iritual  and  temporal  powers  seemed  imminent,  when 
suddenly  the  news  arrived  that  Jerusalem  was  again  in 
the  hands  of  the  infidels,  through  the  defeat  of  the  Chris- 
tians by  Saladin,  Sultan  of  Egypt,  in  a  battle  near  Tiberias. 

rrederick  joins  the  Third  Crusade— His  Death  (1190). 
—After  Frederick  Barbarossa's  stormy  yet  heroic  career, 
It  appeared  as  though  Divine  Providence  had  reserved  for 
his  old  age  a  brilliant  termination  in  the  holy  enterprise 
of  a  crusade.  The  disastrous  intelligence  from  Palestine 
IS  said  to  have  killed  Urban  III.,  but  his  successor, 
Gregory  VIII.,  sent  urgent  lettei-s  to  all  the  princes  of 
Europe,  entreating  them  to  march  instantly  to  the  deliver- 
ance of  the  Holy  Sepulchre.  In  answer  to  this  appeal,  the 
Templars  and  Knights  of  St.  John  were  the  first  to  embark, 
and  were  followed  by  the  Italians,  Normans,  Danes,  and 
Frisons.  The  summons  was  promptly  obeyed  throughout 
Europe,  Ptichard  Cceiir  de  Lioiiy  King  of  England,  Philij)- 
Augustus,  King  of  France,  and  above  all  by  Frederick 
Barbarossa :  every  Christian  potentate  w^as  astir.  The 
heroic  Emperor,  although  in  his  seventieth  year,  hest^n 
his  march  with  youthful  ardour  at  the  head  of  a  w'ell- 
equipped  army  of  150,000  men,  having  received  the  cross 
from  the  hands  of  the  Cardinal  d'Albano  (May  1189)» 
His  route  lay  through  Hungary  to  Constantinople,  where 
lie  embarked  his  army  for  the  shores  of  Palestine  in  shipji 


919-1273.] 


HENRY   VI. 


129 


11 


lent  him  by  the  Emperor  Isaac.  On  landing,  the  Greeks 
attempted  to  exercise  the  same  perfidy  against  him  as 
they  had  against  Conrad  III.,  but  he  punished  them  and 
laid  their  towns  in  ashes.  The  Sultan  Arslan  of  Iconium, 
in  Asia  Minor,  who  proffered  his  friendship,  but  after- 
wards treacherously  withdrew  it,  was  defeated  with  the 
loss  of  his  capital.  In  all  these  battles  and  hazardous 
conjunctures,  the  veteran  warrior  distinguished  himself 
by  his  heroic  vigour,  and  thus  led  his  army  skilfully  to 
the  frontiers  of  Syria;  but  there  his  great  career  came 
to  an  end.  As  they  advanced  towards  Armenia,  the 
heat  became  insupportable.  On  the  10th  June  1190, 
on  the  army  setting  forth  from  Seleucia,  it  was  necessary 
to  cross  an  inconsiderable  river  called  the  Calycadnus, 
over  which  was  a  narrow  bridge  which  rendered  the 
l^assage  of  the  army  slow  and  tedious.  The  impatient 
Emperor,  anxious  to  join  his  son,  who  was  at  the  head 
of  the  vanguard,  plunged  his  horse  into  the  stream,  in 
order  the  more  quickly  to  reach  the  opposite  bank;  but 
the  cuiTent .  swept  him  away;  and,  when  help  reached 
him,  his  lifeless  body  was  recovered  at  a  point  far  distant 
from  that  at  which  he  entered  the  river.  The  grief  and 
consternation  of  the  princes  and  the  army  at  the  loss  of 
their  loved  Emperor  and  leader  may  be  imagined,  but 
cannot  be  described.  All  hope  seemed  to  have  aban- 
doned them,  and  by  f\ir  the  greater  portion  of  the  troops 
returned  to  Germany.  Frederick  Barbarossa  was  at 
least  spared  the  bitter  anguish  of  witnessing  the  melan- 
choly issue  of  so  great  an  enterprise.  Almost  the  entire 
remnant  of  the  force  which  had  remained  under  the 
command  of  the  late  Emperor's  second  sou,  the  Duke  of 
Swabia,  died  of  the  plague  whilst  fighting  bravely  before 
Antioch,  the  duke  amongst  the  number,  in  the  twentieth 
year  of  his  age.  The  mortal  remains  of  his  heroic  father 
found  a  tomb  in  Antioch,  in  that  Syrian  city  where  the 
followers  of  our  Lord  were  first  called  Christians 

Henry  VI.  (1190-1197).  — Frederick  Barbarossa  was 
succeeded  by  his  eldest  son  Henry,  to  whom  he  had  com- 
mitted the  care  of  the  empire  during  his  absence.     Henry^ 


130 


HISTORY  OP   GERMANY. 


[PERIOD  IV. 


far  from  resembling  his  father  in  strength  and  nobility  of 
character  and  grandeur  of  thought,  was,  on  the  contmry, 
narrow  minded,  and  often  cruel  to  those  who  opposed 
his  will.  His  master-passion  was  avarice,  which  he  sig- 
nally manifested  on  an  occasion  which  has  reflected  an 
indelible  stigma  on  his  memory.  After  the  capture  of 
Acre  by  Richard  Cceiir  de  Lion,  King  of  England,  a 
quarrel  arose  between  him  and  Leopold,  Duke  of  Austria. 
On  the  Crusaders  entering  the  city,  the  Gennans  had 
separate  quarters  allotted  to  them,  and  there  Leopold, 
the  only  German  prince  who  remained  in  Palestine  after 
Barbarossa's  death,  hung  out  his  banner  on  the  highest 
tower  in  Acre.  Irritated  at  such  unjustifiable  assump- 
tion of  superiority  over  his  allies,  the  fiery  Cceur  de  Lion 
tore  down  the  banner  and  trampled  it  in  the  dust.  For 
this  aflfront,  the  Duke  Leopold  and  Henry  later  took  an 
ignoble  vengeance.  Richard,  on  his  return  from  the 
Holy  Land,  being  shipwrecked  in  the  Adriatic,  proceeded 
homewards  through  Germany  disguised  as  a  pilgrim.  He 
was,  however,  recognised  near  Vienna,  made  prisoner 
delivered  up  to  Leopold,  who  had  returned  before  him, 
and  confined  in  the  castle  of  Trielfels  on  the  Rhine.  At 
length,  brought  before  the  Diet  at  Hangenau  on  a  chargt 
of  having  wronged  the  Germans  by  an  unfair  distribution 
of  booty,  he  was  forced  to  pay  a  ransom  of  a  million 
crowns — an  enormous  sum  in  those  days — and  do  homage 
to  the  Emperor  before  he  could  obtain  his  release.  In 
thus  arraigning  Richard,  Henry,  it  is  true,  acted  in  con- 
formity with  the  right  then  assumed  by  the  empire  of 
citing  all  the  kings  of  Christendom  before  its  tribunal, 
but  the  treatment  of  the  English  monarch  was  especially 
condemned  by  the  German  princes,  and  looked  upon  by 
all  Europe  as  a  lasting  disgrace  to  the  Emperor.  The 
unchivalrous  Leopold  who  had  resorted  to  this  despicable 
revenge,  was  shortly  afterwards  killed  by  a  fall  from  his 
horse. 

The  chief  object  of  all  Henry's  efforts  was  to  secure 
Naples  and  Sicily,  the  inheritance  of  his  wife  Constance, 
to  hia  crown;  but  the  avarice  and  cruelty  which  he  mani<» 


919-1273.] 


PHILIP   OP   IIOIIEKSTAUFEN. 


131 


fested  in  the  pursuit  of  this  inheritance,  alienated  more 
and  more  from  him  his  new  subjects,  and  increased  their 
hatred  of  the  Germans,  for  not  only  did  he  carry  away 
from  that  kingdom  1  GO  mules  laden  with  gold,  silver,  and 
jewels  of  the  old  Norman  kings,  but  he  put  out  the  eyes 
of  certain  nobles  who  had  revolted  against  him.  Further, 
to  strike  terror  into  others  and  insult  their  efforts  to 
withhold  from  him  the  coveted  crown,  he  caused  them 
to  be  seated  in  a  chair  of  red-hot  iron,  and  a  crown  simi- 
larly heated  placed  upon  their  heads.  The  rest  of  their 
accomplices,  terrified,  submitted;  but  that  submission  was 
not  heartfelt,  and  Henry's  descendants  paid  dearly  for 
his  inhuman  cruelties. 

Summoned  into  Sicily  to  suppress  an  insurrection,  this 
detestable  tyrant  suddenly  died  there,  in  1197,  at  the  age 
of  thirty-three,  when  he  was  on  the  eve  of  devoting  him- 
self wholly  to  a  great  enterprise — the  conquest  of  the 
Greek  empire,  in  order  thereby  to  pave  the  way  for  the 
certain  success  of  the  Crusaders. 

In  this  reign  St3a4a  was  added  to  Austria,  and  Vienna 
surrounded  by  a  wall,  the  expense  of  fortifying  the  city 
being  paid  out  of  the  King  of  England's  ransom. 

Philip  of  Hohenstaufen  (1197-1208)^Otho  IV.  (1197- 
1215). — The  tender  age  of  Henry's  heir,  an  unbaptized 
boy  between  two  and  three  years  old,  was  the  cause  of  a 
formidable  strife  between  two  factions,  severally  sup- 
porters of  the  Hohenstaufen  and  the  Guelphs,  who  both 
pronounced  against  the  young  Frederick's  accession.  The 
first-named  chose  for  Emperor,  Philip,  the  infant's  uncle, 
to  whom  they  swore  fealty  at  Mulhauscn,  whilst  the 
Guelphic  party  chose  Otho,  son  of  Henry  the  Lion,  who 
was  crowned  at  Aix-la-Chapelle,  after  that  city  having 
for  seven  weeks  resisted  his  entrance  within  its  walls. 
Thus  two  sovereigns  at  once  divided  between  them  the 
authority  of  the  mighty  Roman  empire. 

This  unfortunate  rupture  of  the  empire's  unity,  left 
Germany  for  more  than  ten  years  a  prey  to  the  greatest 
disorder,  mpine,  and  murder.  Both  the  reigning  princes 
were  endowed  with  good  qualities,  but  neither  was  able 


132 


HISTORY   OF   GERMANY.  [PERIOD  IV. 


to  benefit  Lis  coimtiy,  whilst  in  order  to  win  over  the 
Pope,  each  to  his  own  side,  they  ceded  many  of  their 
rights   to   Innocent   III.,    an   energetic   and    ambitious 
pontiff,  under  whom  the  papal  supremacy  attained  its 
highest  degree.    Otho,  to  secure  the  support  of  Innocent, 
threw  himself  at  his  feet,  and  swore  to  acknowledge  him 
as  his  liege  lord,  and  restore  to  the  church  all  the  rights 
and  possessions  of  which  it  had  been  deprived  by  former 
emperors.      He  even  recognised  in  the   Pope  the  full 
power  of  bestowing  the  empire;  and,  in  a  letter  which  ho 
addressed  to  him,  he  called  himself  King  of  the  Romans 
by  the  gi-ace  of  God  and  of  the  Pope.    By  reason  of  these 
concessions,  and  because  he  was  a  Guelph,  Innocent  pro- 
tected him  to  the  utmost;  and  when  Philip  had  been 
assassinated  in  the  castle  of  Altenbourg,  near  Bamberg, 
»n   1208,  by  Otho  of  Wittelsbach,  nephew  of  him  to 
v^hom  Frederick  I.  had  given  the  duchy  of  Bavaria,  out 
of  revenge  at  being  refused  the  hand  of  Philip's  daughter, 
Otho  IV.  was  generally  acknowledged  as  sole  monarch 
of  Germany,  and  was  crowned  at  Rome.    But  this  friend- 
ship between  Pope  and  Emperor  did  not  last  long.    Otho 
soon  saw  that  he  had  gone  too  far  with  his  concessions, 
and  that  he  ought  not  to  have  sacrificed  to  his  own 
private  interests  the  imperial  rights.     Scarcely  was  the 
ceremony  of  his  coronation  concluded,  and  he  had  married 
a  daughter  of  his  late  rival  in  the  hope  of  conciliating 
the  Ghibelline  i)arty,  when  the  Roman  populace  rose  and 
drove  him  out  of  the  city  without  Innocent  making  the 
slightest  effort  to  restrain  their  violence.     Exasperated 
at  such  an  insult,  the  Emperor  declared  that  he  no  longer 
considered  himself  bound  by  the  conditions  which  he  had 
made  with  the  Pope.     Notwithstanding  all  the  remon- 
strances of  Innocent,  Otho  persisted  in  his  disobedience, 
the  result  of  which  was  that  the  Pope,  furiously  angry, 
set  up  against  him  the  youthful  Frederick,  son  of  Henry, 
who  in  the  interim  had  been  brought  up  in  Sicily,  and 
over  which  he  had  ruled  since  the  death  of  his  mother, 
Constance.     Frederick  soon  saw  himself  at  the  head  of 
tt  great  party,  and  was  crowned  at  Aix  in  121*5« 


919-1273.J 


Frederick  it. 


133 


Otho  Defeated  at  Bovines  (1214);  is  Deposed  and 

Dies  (1218). — Otho  IV.,  who  had  had  the  imprudence  to 
ally  himself  with  John  Lackland^  King  of  England,  in 
the  coalition  against  Philip-Augustus,  having  lost  his 
best  troops  in  the  disastrous  battle  of  Bovines,  in 
Flandera,  and  with  that  defeat  the  remaining  confidence 
of  his  countrymen,  retired,  on  being  formally  deposed  by 
Pope  Innocent,  to  his  duchy  in  the  North  of  Germany. 
There  he  died  in  1218,  and  twenty  weeks  after  his  de- 
cease, according  to  his  will,  the  imperial  insignia,  includ- 
ing the  holy  cross,  the  holy  lance,  the  crown,  and  one  of 
the  teeth  of  St.  John  the  Baptist,  all  of  which  he  had 
refused  to  surrender  when  deposed,  were  delivered  to  the 
reigning  Emperor. 

Frederick  II.  ( 1 2 1 5-1 250).  —The  education  of  Frederick 
had  been  carefully  superintended  by  Pope  Innocent  III., 
who  became  guardian  of  the  orphan  prince  after  the 
decease  of  his  mother  Constance.  The  gi-andson  of 
Frederick  Barbarossa  was  a  worthy  descendant  of  that 
valiant  Emperor,  alike  by  his  temperament,  at  once 
elastic,  resolute  and  intrepid,  as  by  the  amenity  of  his 
manners,  and  an  imposing  majesty  of  demeanour,  the 
impression  of  which  remained  long  after  his  decease. 
Versed  in  the  arts  and  sciences  so  fat*  as  the  scanty 
knowledge  of  those  days  went,  he  cultivated  also  poetry. 
Bred  up  amidst  the  strife  and  contention  of  that  turbu- 
lent age,  he  became  prematurely  acquainted  with  the 
characters  of  men,  his  piercing  eye  penetrating  their 
follies,  and  lashing  them  not  unfrequently  with  the  sharp 
satire  of  his  verse. 

Remarkable  for  the  possession  of  such  qualities  at  such 
a  time,  yet  this  young  sovereign  achieved  nothing  great. 
His  energies  were  expended  in  an  ever-recurring  struggle, 
greater  and  more  terrible  than  ever,  between  the  Pope 
and  the  empire.  More  Italian  than  German,  he  had 
especially  at  heart  his  inheritance  of  the  two  Sicilies. 
Germany  thus  neglected,  his  vassals  there  steadily  ac- 
quired greater  power,  whilst  in  France,  the  reversion  of 
several  fiefs  to  that  crown  prepared  for  the  royal  puis- 


lU 


llISTOnV   OP   GERMANY.  [PEllIOD  IV. 


919-1273.J 


FREDERICK   II. 


135 


sance   of  that   realm   tlie  victory  which  it  ultimately 
obtained  over  them. 

There  were  three  main  causes  which  tended  to  excite 
the  Papal  See  against  Frederick;  first,  because  the  popes 
could  not  endure  that  the  imperial  crown  and  that  of 
Apulia  should  belong  to  the  same  individual,  as  he  could 
thus  menace  the  states  of  the  church  on  both  sides;  next, 
because  he  would  not  recognise  without  restriction  the 
great  rights  that  Otho  had  conceded;  and,  lastly,  that 
w^hich  excited  their  wrath  the  most  was  that,  in  the  heat 
of  the  quarrel,  he  had  launched  keen  sarcasms  against 
them,  and  sought  in  every  way  to  render  them  ridiculous 
and  contemptible. 

Frederick  11.  Excommunicated  by  Gregory  IX.  (1227). 

— There  was  a  special  circumstance,  however,  which  gave 
"ise  to  the  quarrel.    Frederick,  on  being  crowned  at  Aix, 
had  promised  to  undertake  a  crusade  to  the  Holy  Land, 
and  this  appeal  was  rendered  more  persuasive  by  the  fact 
of  his  having  married  Joanna,  daughter  of  the  King  of 
Jerusalem.     After  that  ceremony,  he  visited  Home  for 
the  purpose  of  receiving  the  imperial  crown  from  the 
Pope,  and  had  renewed  that  promise;  and,  before  his  de- 
parture, prevailed  on  the  electors  to  choose  his  young 
son  Henry  as  his   successor.      From   Rome,   Frederick 
visited  Apulia,  which  he  had  left  at  the  age  of  eighteen. 
There  he  would  gladly  have  remained  for  some  time;  but 
the  violent  tempered  Gregory  IX.  continually  urged  him 
to  keep  his  promise.     Yielding  to  his  importunities,  tho 
Emperor,  in  the  year  1227,  set  sail  with  a  considerable 
force,    but,    a   frightful    pestilence   having   broken   out 
amongst  his  troops,  he  returned  into  port  after  being  at 
sea  only  a  few  days,  and  the  expedition  was  given  up. 
Enraged  at  its  failure,  Gregory,  refusing  to  admit  of  any 
excuse,    excommunicated    Frederick,   alleging   that   the 
sickness  was  only  feigned.     To  refute  these  accusations 
and  redeem  his  honour,  and  burning  with  mgo  at  the 
unjust  sentence  of  excommunication  passed  ui)on  him, 
the  Emperor  set  out  the  following  year  for  Palestine. 
This  step  on  the  part  of  Frederick,  instead  of  appeasing 


,<*■!,: 


the  Pope,  only  served  to  increase  the  dissension  between 
them,  the  latter  asserting  that  an  expedition  undertaken 
in  the  sei^ice  of  God,  and  conducted  by  an  excommuni- 
cate, could  not  possibly  succeed.  Moreover,  in  order 
that  Frederick  should  achieve  nothing  gi-eat  in  the  Holy 
Land,  Gregory  sent  communications  secretly  to  the  eccle- 
siastics, and  the  Knights  of  the  Temple  and  St.  John  to 
refuse  him  their  support,  or  to  hold  any  relations  with 
him;  and  even  sent  his  own  troops  into  the  hereditary 
territories  of  Frederick  in  Italy,  who  overran  a  part  of 
Apulia. 

Treating  the  knightly  orders  with  contempt,  however, 
and  relying  on  his  faithful  Germans,  Frederick  obtained 
such  a  prompt  success,  that  the  Sultan  Al  Kamel  threw 
open  to  him  the  gates  of  Jerusalem,  and  that  leader  of 
the  infidels,  with  his  own  hands,  placed  the  crown  on 
the  head  of  the  Christian  Emperor.  The  patriarch  of 
Jerusalem  and  other  ecclesiastics,  obedient  to  the  Pope's 
commands,  instead  of  thanking  God  for  the  recovery  of 
the  Holy  City,  refused  to  celebrate  any  religious  service 
in  the  Emperor's  presence.  Frederick,  however,  having 
secured  all  his  rights  to  the  crown  "^  of  Jerusalem,  and 
paid  his  devotions  at  the  Holy  Sepulchre,  hastened  back 
to  Italy,  where  his  presence  alone  soon  restored  to  him 
all  he  had  lost;  and  the  Pope  found  himself  compelled  to 
make  peace  with  him  in  1230,  and  remove  the  excom- 
munication. 

The  Emperor's  son  Henry  revolts  against  him. — A 
short  interval  of  tranquillity  i)ermitted  Frederick  to  ex- 
change the  rude  arbitrament  of  war  for  a  life  of  refined 
and  luxurious  enjoyment  in  Apulia,  the  land  of  his  pre- 
dilection. Another  trial,  however,  awaited  him.  His 
son  Henry,  whom  he  had  left  in  Germany  to  govern  the 
empire,  led  away  by  ambition  and  evil  counsels,  revolted 
against  him.  After  an  absence  of  fifteen  years,  Frederick 
returned  into  Germany,  the  north-east  of  which,  during 
that  interval,  had   been  considerably  extended  by  tho 

*  This  title,  King  of  Jerusalem,  passed  from  Frederick  to  the 
Kings  of  Naples  and  Sicily. 


I 


136  HISTORY  OP  GERMANY.  [PERIOD  IV. 

conquests  of  the  Knights  of  the  Cross  and  Sword,  who 
subdued  Esthonia,  and  those  of  the  Teutonic  Order,  who 
conquered  and  civilised  the  Prussians,  a  barbarian  race, 
who  ate  horseflesh,  and  whose  chief  pastime  was  drink- 
ing to  intoxication.  These  wild  marauders  having  long 
harassed  their  neighbours  the  Poles,  the  latter,  unable 
to  withstand  so  poweiful  an  enemy,  at  length  summoned 
to  their  aid  Hermann  of  Salza,  Grand  Master  of  the 
Teutonic  Order,  who  sent  a  hundred  knights  to  their 
assistance.  In  this  manner  Prussia  was  eventually  sub- 
dued, and  became  the  possession  of  the  Teutonic  knights. 
Whilst  the  frontiers  of  the  empire  were  thus  extended  by 
conquest,  its  interior  was  agitated  unceasingly  by  the 
broils  and  treasons  of  the  nobles,  and  their  cruel  oppres- 
sion of  those  who  were  too  weak  to  resist  them. 

Such  were  among  the  troubles  which  had  prevailed 
during  Frederick's  absence.  The  misleaders  of  his  son 
told  him  that  the  limited  power  with  which  he  was  in- 
trusted was  the  cause  of  these  evils.  They  reminded  him 
that  his  father  had  promised  the  Pope  never  to  permit 
the  governments  of  Germany  and  Apulia  to  be  in  the 
hands  of  one  person,  and  persuaded  him  that  his  younger 
brother  Conrad  was  the  favourite  of  his  father.  Thus 
badly  advised,  Henry,  in  1234,  entered  into  an  alliance 
Avith  Frederick,  the  warlike  duke  of  Austria,  and  as- 
sembling the  German  nobles  at  Boppart  on  the  Ehine, 
proposed  that  they  should  throw  off  their  allegiance  to 
the  Emperor.  Not  meeting  with  much  encouragement 
from  the  majority,  he  next  addressed  himself  to  Italy, 
where  he  hoped  to  find  ready  allies  in  Gregory  IX.  and 
the  Lombards.  The  ever-rebellious  Milanese  were  will- 
ing to  aid  him,  but  the  Pope  indignantly  rejected  his 
unnatural  proposal,  declared  all  oaths  of  allegiance  taken 
to  him  to  be  null  and  void,  and  commanded  all  his  ad- 
herents to  abandon  him  on  pain  of  excommunication. 
Frederick  soon  afterwards  appeared  in  Germany  with  a 
numerous  force,  took  his  son  prisoner,  and  after  foimally 
deposing  him  at  Mayence,  sent  him  into  Calabria,  where 
he  died  in  prison  some  seven  years  afterwards  (1242). 


919-1273.] 


FREDERICK   II. 


137 


Trederick  II.  Marries  an  English  Princess  (1235). — 
On  his  return  to  Germany,  Frederick  contracted  a  third 
marriage  with  Isabella,  the  beautiful  sister  of  Henry  III., 
King  of  England  (1235).  At  the  ceremony,  which  was 
celebrated  with  great  pomp  at  Worms,  there  were  among 
the  guests  4  kings,  11  bishops,  75  princes  and  12,000 
knights.  The  Emperor  then  held  a  Diet  at  Mayence,  at 
which  Henry,  as  has  been  said,  was  deposed,  and  his 
brother  Conrad  elected  Frederick's  successor. 

Frederick  defeats  the  Milanese  (1237).— In  the  year 

following,  the  revolt  of  the  Lombard  cities  necessitated 
Frederick's  return  to  Italy.  They  had  renewed  their 
ancient  alliance,  and  refused  the  obedience  they  owed  to 
their  Emperor.  Seconded  by  his  brave  and  skilful  general, 
Ezelin  di  Romano,  with  a  mercenary  force  of  10,000 
Saracens,  Frederick  entered  \ipon  the  campaign  in  North 
Italy,  where  the  imperial  army  was  strengthened  by  troops 
of  Ghibellines.  He  conquered  several  cities  of  the  con- 
federation, and  defeated  so  completely  the  Milanese  (27th 
Nov.  1 237)  at  Corte-nuova,  that  they  would  have  willingly 
submitted  had  he  been  disposed  to  consent  to  tolerable 
conditions.  They  offered  to  recognise  him  as  their  sove- 
reign, to  deliver  up  to  him  all  their  gold  and  sih-er,  and 
furnish  10,000  men  for  the  cinisades,  on  condition  of  his 
pardoning  their  former  misdeeds.  But  Frederick,  irri- 
tated at  their  obstinate  resistance,  and  unmindful  of  what 
happened  to  his  grandfather,  required  unconditional  sur- 
render. These  people  who  remembered  the  struggles  of 
their  forefathers,  preferred,  as  they  told  him,  rather  to 
die  with  arms  in  their  hands  than  perish  by  famine, 
imprisonment,  or  the  hand  of  tlie  executioner.  Thus  hos- 
tilities were  renewed,  and  the  stubborn  Milanese  held  out 
bravely  in  one  city  after  another  against  their  suzerain. 

Frederick  II.  Excommunicated  a  second  time  by 
Gregory  IX  (1235). — Henceforth,  misfortune  continually 
assailed  the  Emperor,  and,  as  we  are  told  by  a  contem- 
poraiy  writer,  ''he  alienated  many  by  his  inexorable 
severity."  Gregory  IX.,  his  archest  enemy,  rose  up  once 
more  against  him,  entered  the  confederation  of  the  cities, 


138 


HISTORY   OP   GERMANY.  [PERIOD  IV. 


919-1273.] 


FREDERICK  IT. 


130 


and  placed  him  again  under  the  ban  of  the  Church.  The 
reason  alleged  by  Gregory  for  this  last  step  was  that 
Sardinia,  of  which  the  Pope  claimed  sovereignty  as  paiii 
of  St.  Peter*s  patrimony,  had  been  seized  by  Frederick, 
who,  against  the  Pope's  remonstrances,  made  his  son 
king  of  the  island.  To  discuss  these  and  other  matters, 
Gregory  having  summoned  an  oecumenical  council,  the 
Emperor,  in  order  to  defeat  his  ecclesiastical  adversaries, 
gave  secret  orders  to  his  son  to  seize  the  vessels  in  which 
they  had  embarked.  The  result  was  that  twenty-two 
ships  on  their  voyage  to  Kome,  filled  with  cardinals, 
bishops,  and  prelates,  were  captured,  and  this  bold 
manoeuvre  completely  frustrated  the  holding  of  the 
council.  Gi-egory,  who  was  nearly  a  hundred  years  old, 
took  this  mortification  so  nnich  to  heart  that  he  died  a 
few  months  afterwards. 

Inroad  of  the  Mongols.— About  this  time,  Germany 
was  overrun  by  the  Mongols,  a  barbarous  race  who 
appear  to  have  followed  the  tracks  taken  by  the  Huns 
in  former  reigns.  Like  their  precursors,  these  savages 
were  of  low  stature,  mis-shapen,  and  of  hideous  mien, 
prominent  cheek-bones,  flat  noses,  thick  blubber  lii)s, 
and  small  deep-sunken  eyes.  They  fed  upon  cats,  rats, 
and  the  most  repulsive  refuse.  Mounted  on  small,  lean, 
but  swift  hoi-ses,  these  marauders  had  pursued  a  long 
career  of  havoc  and  plunder,  devastating  many  countries?, 
and  leaving  a  trail  of  terror  and  ferocity  behind  them. 
In  the  year  1206  they  had  invaded  all  Asia  under  a 
chief  who  assumed  the  name  of  Zingis  Khan  (Lord  of 
Lords).  Tliis  chief,  after  having  conquered  China,  died 
in  1227.  His  sons  overran  Eussia  and  Prussia,  and 
penetrated  as  far  as  Silesia,  where  they  pillaged  and 
burnt  its  capital,  Breslau.  In  1241,  they  proved  vic- 
torious in  a  great  battle  over  the  Silesians,  near  Liegnitz, 
where  Henry  the  Pious,  Duke  of  Lower  Silesia,  with  an 
army  of  not  more  than  30,000  men,  encountered  an  innu- 
mei-able  multitude  of  Mongols,  according  to  some  writers 
estimated  at  450,000  strong.  The  Duke,  like  a  chival- 
rous knight,  disputed  for  two  days  the  victory  with  the 


! 


barbarian  hordes;  but,  overwhelmed  by  numbers,  and 
having  fought  a  lost  battle  to  the  bitter  end,  at  last  fell 
with  the  greater  part  of  his  force — the  savage  enemy 
carrying  off,  as  a  trophy,  nine  sacks  filled  with  ears  cut 
from  the  heads  of  the  slain.  These  tierce  invaders  then 
marched  southwards,  perpetrating  the  motit  atrocious 
cruelties  in  Moravia  and  Hungary,  until  at  length  they 
met  with  a  signal  defeat  from  the  imperial  forces  on  the 
banks  of  the  Danube. 

The  result  of  this  Mongol  invasion  to  Silesia  and 
Hungary  was,  that  large  numbers  of  German  peasants 
migrated  to  those  depopulated  countries,  and  thus  there 
has  been  since  then  a  population  more  German  than 
Sclavonian. 

Frederick  IL  Deposed  and  Banned  by  Innocent  IV. 

(1243). — The  sentence  of  excommunication  launched  by 
Gregory  IX.  against  Frederick  was  solemnly  renewed,  in 
1243,  at  Lyons,  by  his  successor,  Innocent  IV.,  with  all  the 
ceremonies  of  **bell,  book,  and  candle."  Whilst  the  mem- 
bers of  the  Council  chanted  the  "Te  Deum  Laudamus," 
the  prelates,  assisting,  extinguished  the  torches  they  had 
held  during  the  formalities,  praying  that  in  like  manner 
the  Emperor's  glory  and  hap[>iness  might  be  extinguished 
on  earth.  So  bitter  an  enemy  of  Frederick  did  Innocent 
show  himself  that,  not  satisfied  with  having  resorted  to 
the  violent  measure  above  stated,  that  Pontift'  went  so 
far  as  even  to  pronounce  the  deposition  of  the  Emperor 
from  all  his  states  and  all  his  dignities. 

At  this  juncture  a  formidable  influence  militated  in 
favour  of  the  Papacy — the  power  of  public  opinion. 
Innocent  IV.  had  heaped  gi^ave  accusations  against  the 
Emperor:  amongst  others,  that  of  contemning  the 
Christian  religion  and  the  Holy  Catholic  Church,  and 
of  leaning  towards  the  infidelity  of  the  Saracens;  this 
latter  charge  being  seemingly  confirmed  by  the  fact  of 
Frederick  having  employed  Saracens  in  the  war  against 
the  Lombard  cities.  To  this  must  be  added  the  vein  of 
biting  sarcasm  which  he  had  indulged  at  the  expense 
of  the  Papacy  without   suflicient  regard  for  its  sacred 


140  nisTouY  OP  GEniuxr.  [period  iv. 

functions       Neither,  unhai.pily,  was  his  life  pure  and 
spotless    being   habitually  sullied    by  sensual  ^excesses 
.    He  lost  by  degx-ees  therefore  the  high  estimation  'vhTch 

e.T.lS»    Tr'^/ ""j'^^"^'  ^"'^  '^"^  c^onsciousness  of    ht 
embttered  his  latter  years  and  hastened  his  death 

il,^  T  r%  ""^  °^  excommunication  were  scattered 
throughout  Germany,  seve.-al  ecclesiastical  princes  made 
use  of  them  to  excite  public  opinion  still  fuK  aS 
Fredenck;  and,  in  1246,  caused  the  Landgrave  of 
Thuringia,  Henry  Raspon,  to  be  chosen  EmperSr  in  his 
place    at  Wutzburg.     But  this  antagonist  obtaLcd  no 

Wilham  of  Holland,  who  succeeded  him,  found  but  littlS 
support  during  the  Emperor's  lifetime. 

and  lir'"'"  wf  "'tf  ■  T""  '•"«"^'*  ^°^^  '"^  Germany 
ana  Italy.     "When  the  Emperor  Frederick  wis  nliPofl 

'^tVlleT  °'-*'^  '^'''r''''  '^y^  -  andentXtSnt 
theLrtv  7-?T''  r'  <=<^»gr'^t"lated  one  another  on 
the  booty  which  offered  itself  to  their  grasp.     The  Dloucrb 

Nn^w^k'ef  r  f  ^f-"l-nd  ^cyth'es  i^t  tiS 
and  stee  ll  n?r  T*r'*''°",*  "^""^^^S  ^ith  him  his  flint 
TJJ   '        ^""^  *°  ^  '■''-'^''y  *"  spread  flames  and  ashes 

'vitloutTnv';*  '™"''**  ^r"  ^'^  ^t^'y  *•>«  ^-'^r  went  on 
ci   es      ThI  fcisive  result,  especially  among  the  Lombard 

FiederJoK  ^'"f  ^'''"^  ^'''"^  sometimes  successful,  but 
enSled  aS"'  became  almost  daily  more  and  more 

t£  his  '.rl  ''''"f  "^  ^'^''*"""  altogether  forsook  him. 
liius  his  son  Enzio  whom  he  had  made  King  of  Sicily 

the  handsomest  and  most  chivalrous  of  all  his  family  was 

niVos"  ir  'C'  ''^^"""""l  "^  '^  unlucky  Snl 
anv  riZi        i        exasperated  citizens  refused  to  accej.t 

n  1  pJl    •  u.  ^u^  twenty-two  yeara;   but  he  survived 

Srishod  ll    '  ?'^'\T'  ^"'^  g'-andsons,  who  severally 
l^rished  by  poison,  the  sword,  or  the  headsman      TT;« 

chance  lor  andlong4ried  friend,  Peter  DesvSetowh^m 
he  had  tnisted  the  most  important  affiurs  &  enTpiT 

his  eyes  put  out,  and  destroyed  himself  by  dashing  his 


\ 


0191273] 


FREDERICK   II. 


141 


head  against  the  walls  of  his  cell.  The  Emperor  did  not 
long  survive  this  series  of  disastrous  events.  He  died  m 
1250.  in  the  arms  of  Manfred,  the  son  of  his  last  mfe 
Bianca,  at  the  Castle  of  Firenzuola,  on  the  Ruhr,  at  the 
ace  of  fifty-six,  having  worn  seven  crowns— the  imperial, 
the  German,  the  iron  crown  of  Lombardy,  and  those  of 
Burgundy,  Sicily,  Sardinia,  and  Jerusalem. 

ll  after  tracing  i-apidly  the  main  events  of  Fredericks 
stormy  life,  we  glance  at  his  intellectual  qualities    and 
aU  he^did  for  the  arts  and  sciences  in  his  tereditay 
dominions  (Naples),  we  discover  with  regret  ttat,  at  his 
death    everything  disappeared  like  a  phantom.     Gifted 
S  'Xte  and  acquii-ements  possessed  by  few  men  of 
S  time,  he  understood  Greek,  Latin,  Italian   French, 
Gei-man,  and  Arabic.     Among  the  sciences,  his  predi- 
lection was  for  natural  history,  which  led  bm  to  foim  a 
menagerie  of  wild  beasts,  and  ho  wrote  a  treatise  on 
Ss   which   is   still   extant.       His   instructor   in   the 
Bc  ences  was  the  celebrated  Michael  Scott,  «-  ti-a-^^";; 
of  Aristotle's  treatise  on  natural  history,  who  figuies  as 
a  nec^mancer  in  Sir  Walter  Scott's  "Lay  of  the  Last 
Minstrel"      Frederick   II.    founded   the   university   of 
Ninles  in  1224,  and  liberally  patronised  that  of  balemo; 
and  thank  to  his  zeal,  the  first  collection  of  objects  of  art 
were  made  in  those  cities,  which,  however,  unfortunately 
disappeared  during  the  troubles  of  the  ^^^^%^^-,. 
Like  Charlemagne,  it  is  recorded  of  Frederick  II.  that 
the  Itern  potenkes  were  eager  to  testify  their  friend- 
ship by  presenting  him  with  curiosities  and  the  most 
precioifs  productions  of  art.     His  taste  wa«  exquisite,  and 
is  brilliint  court  in  the  beautifiil  land  of  Ap«  ja  ^-^^ 
fcxinted  with  sensuality,  became  the  centre  ot  al   that  was 
^Sated,  learned,  an^  luxurious      I-^ellectua^  c^^^^^^^^^^^^ 
in  which  the  victoi-s  were  crowned,  often  took  place,  and 
in  ^em  Frederick  shone  as  a  poet,  being  the  fii^t  w^^ 
wrote  verses  in  the   vernacular  dialect   of  Italy.     t±i^ 
death  threw  that  country  into   disorder  and   invo  ved 
Sany  in  still  worse  calamities.     I"  ««»™any;  '- 
were  again  two  Emperoi^.  throne  against  throne.     Whilst 


1^^  HISTORY  OP  GERMAN V.  [PERIOD  IV. 

the  faction  inimical  to  tlie  Holienstaufen  recognised  and 
sustained  William  of  Holland,  the  other  had  at  their 
head  Frederick's  son  Conrad,  already  elected  Kin^  of 
the  Komans  in  the  lifetime  of  his  fathei\  "^ 

/1oTn^1'o^'^^^^^^^"^''^  (1247-1256),  and  Conrad  IV. 

(1 250-1 254).~Conrad,  by  his  father's  will,  inherited  with 
the  imperial  crown  the  sovereignty  of  Gennany:   but 
engi'ossed  with  the  recovery  of  his  Italian  dominions,  ho 
crossed  the  Alps  in  1251,  leaving  his  wife  behind,  who 
m  the   following  year  gave  biith   to   the   unfortunate 
Conrad  the  younger,  called  by  the  Italians  Conradino 
Placed  under  the  ban  of  the  Church,  like   his   f\xther 
immediately  the  news  of  his  accession  reached  Home' 
the  Pope  pronounced  his  title  null,  and  sent  out  emis' 
saries  to  preach  a  crusade  against  him  as  an  unbeliever 
and   a   heathen.      Conrad,  however,  conquered  Naples 
but  made  the  inhabitants  his  irreconcilable  enemies  bv 
affixing  a  bridle  to  the  statue  of  a  horse  which  stood  in 
the  public  square  as  the  emblem  of  that  city.     On  his 
retiirn   to   Germany,  he  was   confronted   by  his   rival 
William    of    Holland,    in   person    at    Oppenheim,    and 
defeated.      Shortly    afterwards,    Conrad    fell    sick   and 
died,  not  without  suspicion  of  having  been   poisoned. 
He  was  the  last  sovereign  of  the  House  of  Holienstaufen 
-Frederick  had,  indeed,  left  a  second  son,  Henry  by  his 
marriage  with  Isabella,  a  third,  Manfred,  by  Bianca  his 
third  wife,  and  two  grandsons  of  the  unfortunate  eldest 
Henry;  but  they  all  died  in  the  flower  of  their  a^e  and 
nearly  at  the  same  time;  so  that  at  the  death  of  Conrad 
•II  ;  ^^'^f  ?,^^^3^  remained  of  the  Hohenstaufen  family  the 
lU-fated  Conradino  and  his  brother  Manfred 
wnf.^*^  ?.^,  William  of  Holland  (1256).~The  Emperor 
William  did  not  long  survive  Conrad,  and  had  been  held 
m  such  contempt  that  on  one  occasion  he  was  pelted  with 
stones  by  the  people  of  Utrecht,  and  his  wife  assailed  and 
plundered  on  the  highway  by  a  single  citizen.     In  1256 
having  marched  against  the  Frieslanders,  he  perished  in 
attempting  to  cross  on  horseback  a  frozen  morass  near 
Medenbhck,  the  ico  having  broken  under  him,     Aftor 


919-1273.] 


CONRADINO. 


143 


his  death  Germany  became  the  seat  of  the  most  frightful 
disorders. 

The  Interregnum  (125G-1273).— The  fortunes  of  the 

empire  had  now  fallen  so  low  that,  with  the  exception 
of  Ottocar,  King  of  Bohemia,  no  German  prince  being 
willing  to  accept  the  crown,  the  electoral  body  conceived 
the  ignoble  idea  of  electing  some  foreigner  for  Emperor 
who  should  bid  highest  for  the  title.  The  electors  dis- 
agreed, however,  in  their  choice,  one  party  having  chosen 
Richard,  Earl  of  Cornwall,  brother  of  Henry  III.,  King  of 
England,  who  purchased  the  votes  of  the  Archbishop  of 
Mayence  and  his  adherents  for,  in  those  days,  a  large  sum 
of  money,  of  which  the  Archbishop  received  12,000  marks, 
and  every  other  elector  8000.  The  other  party,  at  the 
head  of  which  was  the  Archbishop  of  Treves,  negotiated 
with  Alfonso  of  Castile,  sumamed  The  Wise,  who  offered 
20,000  marks  to  each  of  the  electors.  Richard  of  Corn- 
wall, according  to  the  contemporary  chronicles,  carried 

'    the  purchase  money  with  him  into  Germany  in  thirty- 

\  two  waggons,  each  drawn  by  eight  horses,  and  laden  with 
a  hogshead  of  gold.  With  this  treasure  he  conquered  the 
hearts  of  the  avaricious  electors  and  was  solemnly  crowned 
at  Aix.     He  soon  afterwards,  however,  returned  to  Eng- 

I  land  accompanied  by  many  distinguished  Germans,  who, 
finding  themselves  unpopular  at  the  English  court,  made 
but  a  short  stay  therein.    Richard  thrice  visited  Germany, 

i  but  each  of  his  visits  was  of  brief  duration.  As  for 
Alphonso,  he  never  entered  that  country.  The  Pope 
had  continually  promised  to  adjudicate  upon  the  claims 

'  of  these  two  candidates,  but  his  decision  being  deferred 
from  year  to  year,  disorder  and  violence  in  the  meanwhile 
increased  daily  throughout  the  land;  the  petty  princes, 
counts  and  knights,  as  well  as  the  towns,  were  continually 
at  war  with  one  another,  until  the  whole  of  Germany  in 
this  her  darkest  hour  became  a  scene  of  bloodshed,  pillage, 
and  anarchy. 

Conradino,  the  last  of  the  Hohenstaufen.— The  fate  of 

the  last  scion  of  the  Hohenstaufen  family  was  a  sad  one. 
Conradino  of  Swabia,  son  of  Conrad  IV.,  after  \m  f;*thev'» 


Ui 


HISTORY   OF   GERMANY.  [PERIOD  IV. 


9101273.] 


CONRADINO. 


Ub 


death,  had  been  brought  up  in  Bavaria,  and  later  in  Swabia, 
where  he  still  possessed  some  small  territories,  whilst  his 
uncle  Manfred,  at  first  in  quality  of  regent,  and  later  with 
the  title  of  King,  administered  his  hereditary  states  of 
Naples  and  Sicily.  Clement  IV.,  however,  the  irrecon- 
cilable enemy  of  the  Hohenstaufen,  declared  the  throne 
of  Apulia  vacant ;  and  wishing  to  get  it  out  of  the  hands 
of  the  Ghibellines,  or  Emperor's  party,  offered  it  to 
Charles  of  Anjou,  brother  of  Louis  IX.  of  France.  Of  a 
very  different  character  from  the  pious  St.  Louis,  he  was, 
though  brave  and  clever,  ambitions,  covetous,  cruel,  and 
unforgiving.  This  crown  had  fallen  into  the  hands  of 
the  imperial  family  by  the  marriage  of  the  heiress  of  the 
last  Norman  King  of  Sicily  with  the  father  of  the  Em- 
peror Frederick  II.  When  Frederick  died,  the  crown  of 
the  Sicilies — that  is,  the  island  of  Sicily  and  the  kingdom 
of  Naples — was  occupied  as  above  stated,  by  Manfred  his 
natural  son.  Charles  of  Anjou  could  not  resist  the  temp- 
tation of  being  a  King,  and,  in  1265,  having  collected  an 
army,  he  encountered  Manfred  at  Beneventum.  Manfred, 
who  had  had  the  misfortune  to  lose  by  a  sudden  storm 
the  fleet  by  which  he  might  have  prevented  the  landing 
of  the  French,  was  defeated  and  slain,  and  Charles  took 
possession  of  his  dominions.  Charles  began  his  reign 
with  many  acts  of  cruelty,  among  the  rest  by  casting  Man- 
fred's children  into  prison,  where  they  ended  their  days. 
In  1267,  the  adherents  of  the  Ghibellines  in  Apuli 
disgusted  with  the  cruelty  and  tymnny  of  Charles  o 
Anjou,  having  invited  young  Conradino  to  resume  the 
crown  of  which  he  had  been  unjustly  deprived,  seveml  of 
the  German  pi-inces  joined  him  in  an  endeavour  to  drive 
the  French  out  of  Italy.  Having  crossed  the  Alps  witli 
10,000  men,  Conradino  made  Verona  his  head-quarters, 
and  during  three  months  all  the  Ghibellines  in  Italy 
flocked  to  his  standard.  In  a  series  of  battles  the  French 
were  invariably  defeated,  and  Conradino  at  length,  in 
despite  of  the  Pope,  entered  Rome  in  triumph,  and  was 
escorted  to  the  Capitol  by  a  bevy  of  young  maidens  who 
scattered  flowers  along  his  path.     But  now  the  tide  of 


w  I 


success  turned  against  him.  Near  Tagliacozzo,  in  Apulia, 
his  adversary  confronted  him  at  the  head  of  a  powerful 
force,  and  Conradino's  army,  after  routing  the  French, 
dispersed  in  search  of  booty,  and  falling  into  an  ambus- 
cade, was  cut  to  pieces  by  the  enemy's  rear-guard.  Con- 
radino, after  long  fighting  valiantly,  escaped  with  his 
staunch  adherent  Frederick  of  Baden,  through  the  speed 
of  their  horses;  but  having  embarked  on  board  a  ship 
bound  for  Pisa,  they  were  betrayed  by  Frangipani  of 
Astura,  and  delivered  up  to  Charles.  A  commission  sat 
to  determine  their  fate,  and  sentence  of  death  beimr 
l)ronounced  upon  both  as  rebels,  it  was  communicated 
to  Conradino  and  Frederick  whilst  they  were  playing 
chess  in  their  prison.  When  brought  from  his  dungeon 
to  ascend  a  scalibld  erected  in  a  market-place  at  Naples, 
the  youth,  eloquence,  and  exceptional  beauty  of  the  right- 
ful prince  caused  a  deej)  sullen  murmur  to  run  through 
tlie  crowd.  Even  the  French  were  moved  to  tears;  and 
when  Bobert  of  Bari  advanced  to  read  the  sentence,  he 
was  instantly  felled  to  the  ground  by  Count  Bobert  of 
Flanders,  the  usurper's  son-in-law,  and  carried  senseless 
away;  but  no  attempt  was  made  to  rescue  the  condemned. 
Conradino  now  addressed  the  S2)ectators,  who  listened  in 
breathless  silence  to  his  last  words.  "I  summon,"  he 
said,  *' my  judges  before  the  tribunal  of  the  Most  Higli. 
My  innocent  blood,  shed  on  this  scaffold,  will  cry  to 
Heaven  for  vengeance :  nor  do  I  hold  mv  Swabians  and 
Bavarians,  or  my  German  people,  so  base  and  degenerate 
but  that  they  will  wash  out  in  French  blood  this  insult 
to  their  land."  Having  thus  spoken  he  threw  down  his 
glove,  which  a  German  knight  took  up  and  conveyed 
to  Conradino's  relative,  Pedro  HI.  of  Arragon.  Then, 
having  removed  his  ui)per  garment,  the  unfortunate  prince 
embraced  his  friends,  and  murmuring  some  words  about 
his  mother,  laid  his  head  on  the  block.  As  the  blood 
spouted  uj)  under  the  axe  of  the  executioner,  his  fellow- 
sufferer,  Frederick,  uttered  a  dismal  shriek  and  swooned, 
but  was  lifted  up  and  executed  with  several  others. 
Conradino,  before  ascending  the  scaffold,  had  ceded  his 

li 


1-iG 


HISTORY   OF   GERMANY. 


[period  IV. 


riirhts  to  Constance,  the  daiigliter  of  Manfred,  and  it  was 
tln-ouc^li  her  that  the  murder  of  Conradino  was  at  length 
fearfiiily  avenged  by  the  horrible  conspiracy  called  the 
Sicilian  Vespers.    Easter  Eve,  1 282,  was  the  day  appointed 
for  the  massacre  of  the  French;  and  the  ringnig  of  the 
vesper-bell  was  to  be  the  signal  to  the  assassnis.     At 
that  hour,  as   the   French,  in  ignorant  security,   were 
sittinf'   at   supper,  the  infuriate  Sicilians  rushed  upon 
them,''and  in  the  short  space  of  two  hours  there  was  not 
a  Frenchman  left  alive  in  Palermo,  where  the  massacro 
bci^an,  with  the  exception  of  one  man  alone,  Guillaumo 
de^'Pourceleto,  a  gentleman  of  Provencii,  whose  life^  was 
spared  on  account  of  his  extraordinary  probity.     Every 
other  town  in  Sicily,  in  which  any  French  were  to  bo 
found,  followed  the  example  thus  set  by  Palermo,  and  it 
is   estimated   that  8000  persons   fell  in  this  massacre. 
Though  the  consjnracjj  against  Charles  and  his  party  had 
been  long  on  foot,  it  is  probable  that  the  massacre  itself 
was  a  sudden  outbreak,  and  Sismondi  represents  it  as  such. 
When  Charles  of  Anjou,  who  was  at  this  time  absent 
from  Sicily,  was  informed  of  what  had  passed,  he,  furious 
with  ra^e,  hastened  to  Messina  with  all  the  forces  ho 
could  collect  and  laid  siege  to  it;  but  the  Sicilians  who 
'  well  knew  his  remorseless  character,  defended  themselves 
with  the  courage  of  desperation,  and  Charles  found  hini- 
self  obliged  to  retire  to  Calabria  and  there  wait  for  rein- 
forcements.   Pedro,  however,  in  spite  of  Charles's  eftbrts, 
retained  possession  of  the  island;  and,  in  1285,  amidst  all 
the  horrors  of  a  guilty  conscience,  the  murderer  of  the 
last  Ilohenstaufen  ended  his  miserable  life. 


I 


FIFTH   PERIOD. 

FROM    RODOLril    I.     OP    HAPSBURG    TO    CHARLES    "^P— 

(1273-1520).  ^ 

(Emperors  of  different  Houses), 

Rodolpll  of  Hapsburg  (1273-1291).— The  longer  that 
anarchy  jjrevailod  in  Germany,  the  greater  it  became; 
and  when  Eichard  of  Cornwall  died  in  England,  in  1272, 
as  Alphonso  of  Castile  gave  himself  very  little  trouble 
about  the  empire,  the  German  princes  assembled  in  Diet 
at  Frankfort,  in  1273,  and  having  set  his  claims  aside, 
proceeded  to  choose  an  Emperor,  concerning  whose  fit- 
ness they  should  be  unanimous.  A  strong  and  sagacious 
ruler  was  needed  to  re-establish  the  imperial  dignity,  and, 
on  the  other  hand,  one  not  too  powerful,  in  order  that 
the  other  princes  should  have  nothing  to  fear  for  their 
own  sway:  one  in  short  who  would  rule  only  in  the 
manner  which  the  Pope  and  the  nobles  might  prescribe. 
This  was  no  easy  task.  However,  after  considerable  de- 
lay, an  individual  was  found,  who  more  than  any  other 
seemed  to  possess  the  necessary  qualifications.  In  Count 
Rodolph  of  Hapsburg,  it  was  the  good  fortune  of  Ger- 
many to  find  a  man  destined  to  restore  peace  to  that 
distracted  country.  Distinguished  as  a  brave  and  success- 
ful warrior,  yet  possessing  little  weight  by  his  slender 
possessions,  he  had  nevertheless  won  the  esteem  alike  of 
rich  and  poor  by  his  noble  qualities.  During  the  bar- 
barous period  of  the  interregnum,  he  had  resided  on  his 
})atrimonial  estates,  and,  so  far  as  his  arm  could  extend, 
lie  had  protected  the  oj)pressed  against  the  injustice  and 
cruelty  of  brigandage.     He  was  long  the  protector  and 


118 


IIISTOUY   OF   GEKMAXY. 


[period  V. 


1273-1520.] 


RODOLPH   OF   HAPSBURG. 


149 


fe 


,'ovenior  of  Zuricli,  Strasbourg,  and  the  towns  situated 
at  the  foot  of  Mount  St.  Gotliard;  during  wliich  rule  lie 
had  signally  displayed  sagacity,  equity,  and  magnanimity. 
His  exterior  was  connnanding,  yet  his  demeanour  frank 
and  simple,  his  countenance  pale  and  serious;  and  the 
Archbishop  of  Cologne,  in  a  letter  to  the  Pope,  described 
hnn  as  "a  sound  Christian,  a  true  friend  of  the  Church, 
a  lover  of  righteousness,  mighty  in  his  own  strength,  and 
allied  with  the  miirlitv." 


MOUNT  ST.    GOTIIARD. 

Eodolph,  who  did  not  dream  of  such  elevation  await- 
ing  lum,  was  at  the  moment  at  war  with  Basle,  with  the 
object  of  re-establishing  therein  the  party  of  the  nobles 
driven  out  by  the  citizens.  It  was  in  the  dead  of  ni^dit 
that  the  burgrave  of  Nuremberg,  Frederick  de  Hohtn- 
zollern,  Eodolph's  father-in-law,  came  into  his  camp  with 
that  unexpected  message.  At  first,  Eodolph  could  not 
credit  It;  but  when  later  the  imperial  marshal  also 
arrived,  he  sent  the  burgi-ave  into  the  city  to  offer  i)eace 
to  the  citizens,  because  he  was  then,  he  said,  the  stronr^esfc 
The  besieged  received  the  tidings  verv  jovfullv,  and  were 


/ 


the  first  to  offer  up  prayers  for  the  prosperity  of  his  reign. 
Gregory  X.  went  in  person  to  meet  him  at  Lausanne,  and 
there,  kneeling  at  the  Pope's  feet,  llodolph  swore  uncon- 
ditional obedience  to  the  See  of  Koine.  In  after  life  he 
sought  to  justify  this  act  of  self-abasement.  "  I  saw,"  he 
said,  **  the  traces  of  many  footsteps  going  into  the  lion's 
den,  but  none  returning  thence;  therefore  did  I  hold  it 
for  the  truest  wisdom  to  serve  the  lion  of  the  church 
rather  than  to  fight  with  him."  From  Lausanne,  he  re- 
paired to  Frankfort  to  meet  the  assembled  nobles,  and 
thence  to  Aix-la-Chapelle,  where  he  was  solemnly  crowned 
(21st  Oct.  1273),  in  the  presence  of  20,000  knights,  and 
a  vast  concourse  of  people.  After  the  ceremony,  when 
the  i)rinces  of  the  em2)ire  were  about  to  render  homage 
to  the  new  Emperor,  according  to  custom,  for  their 
states,  no  sceptre  was  forthcoming,  the  regalia  having 
been  lost  during  the  troubles  which  followed  the  death 
of  Frederick  11.  An  embarrassing  pause  ensued,  which 
was  promptly  broken  by  Podol})h  taking  the  crucifix 
from  the  high  altar,  and  administering  on  it  the  oath 
which  had  been  usually  sworn  on  the  imperial  sceptre : 
"The  symbol  of  our  redemption,"  he  said,  "might  well 
su2)ply  its  place." 

llodolph  of  Hapsburg  began  his  reign  by  striking  with 
all  the  severity  of  the  law  at  the  root  of  the  etil  by  which 
Germany  was  op2)ressed,  by  purging  his  realm  from  in- 
ternal disorders.  During  the  interregnum,  the  country 
had  been  the  prey  of  the  iron-handed  marauder,  and  the 
license  which  prevailed  was  so  great  as  to  baffle  descrip- 
tion: the  entire  land  was  infested  by  bands  of  robbers; 
no  man's  life  or  property  being  secure.  But  after  he  had 
succeeded  in  suppressing  the  robber  chiefs  and  minor  per- 
turbators,  he  was  not  long  in  perceiving  that  to  give  Ger- 
many lasting  peace,  and  restore  to  the  imperial  dignity 
its  proper  consideration,  it  was  necessary  for  him  to  com- 
pel the  great  princes  also  to  fulfil  their  duties  and  render 
him  due  homage.  One  of  the  conditions  imposed  on 
llodolph  at  his  election  was,  that  he  should  humble  the 
pride  of  Ottocar  of  Bohemia.    Kodolph  had  been  marblial 


150 


HISTORY  01*   GERMAN3^.  [pERIOD  V, 


12731520.] 


RODOLPn   I. 


151 


of  the  palace  to  that  King,  and  when,  therefore,  tiie  Em- 
peror summoned  him  to  do  homage  at  the  Diet  of  Nurem- 
berg, in  1274,  Ottocar  disdainfully  replied:  "What  does 
that  man  want  of  me,  have  I  not  paid  him  his  wages  V* 
Ottocar  was  a  powerful  prince,  and  possessed,  besides 
Bohemia,  the  hereditary  states  of  Austria,  which  he  had 
contrived  to  appropriate  to  himself  after  the  extinction 
of  the  ducal  house  of  Babenberg,  partly  by  kinship  and 
partly  by  force  of  arms  and  gold,  and  he  thought  that 
no  one  could  compel  him  to  obedience.     Moreover,  the 
Austrian  states  preferred  bitter  complaints  to  the  Em- 
peror of  his  oppression  and  injustice.    Accordingly,  Otto- 
car having  refused  to  obey  a  third  summons  to  Augsberg, 
in  1275,  he  was  placed  under  the  ban  of  the  empire  as 
a  rebel;  and  such  was  the  rage  of  this  perfidious  prince, 
that  when  the  imperial  heralds  appeared  at  Prague  to 
announce  the  sentence,  he  ordered  them  to  be  hanged 
over  the  chief  entrance-gate  of  that  city.    But  his  punish- 
ment was  not  long  delayed.     Rodolph  entered  Austria 
early  in  the  following"  year,  and  reduced  all  that  country 
under  his  power  as  far  as  Vienna,  which  he  besieged. 
Ottocar,  conscious  of  a  bad  cause,  yielded  without  strik- 
ing a  blow;  surrendering  Austria,  Styria,  Carinthia,  and 
Carniola  to  the  empire,  but  retaining  Bohemia  and  Mor- 
avia to  be  held  as  fiefs,  for  which  he  was  to  do  homage. 
In  order  further  to  consolidate  the  peace,  a  marriage  was 
arranged  between  the  heir  presumptive  of  Bohemia,  Win- 
ceslas,  and  one  of  the  six  daughters  of  Ilodol])h,  and  a 
second  between  the  Emperor's  son  and  a   princess  of 
Bohemia. 

Ottocar  soon  afterwards  repaired  witji  great  pomp  to 
Bodolph's  camp  on  the  island  of  Lobau,.  in  the  Danube, 
to  do  liomage.  This  ceremony  was  attended  by  a  bitter 
mortification  for  that  haughty  prince,  who  had  hoped  to 
eclipse  by  the  s])lendour  of  his  royal  airay  the  unostenta- 
tious simplicity  so  characteristic  of  the  Emperor.  "The 
King  of  Bohemia  has  often  laughed  at  my  old  grey  doub- 
let," said  Bodolph;  "  to-day  it  is  the  turn  of  the  old  grey 
doublet  to  laugh  at  him."     Thus,  when  Ottocar,  resplen- 


ii 


dent  in  purple  and  gold,  was  in  the  act  of  kneeling  before 
the  Emperor,  the  sides  of  the  tent  were  suddenly  draw^n 
\ip,  so  that  he  was  seen  by  the  'svhole  army.  Enraged  at 
this  humiliation,  and  the  continual  reproaches  of  his 
queen,  Ottocar  again  unsheathed  the  sword  against  his 
suzerain,  who  encountered  him  (26th  Aug.  1278)  near 
]\Iarchefeld,  on  the  Morava.  The  battle  w^as  sanguinary 
and  its  issue  long  doubtful,  and  Bodolph,  whose  horse 
was  killed  under  him,  had  a  narrow  escape  from  losing 
his  life.  At  length,  the  rebels  w^ere  put  to  flight,  and 
Ottocar,  fighting  desperately,  was  slain  by  a  Styrian 
knight,  whose  father  he  had  cruelly  put  to  death  many 
years  before. 

Rodolph  I.  founds  the  Imperial  Dynasty  of  Austria. 

— In  a  Diet  at  Augsburg  (1282),  in  presence  and  with 
the  consent  of  a  crowd  of  princes  and  nobles,  Bodolph 
took  solemn  possession  of  Austria  to  the  advantage  of 
his  own  family,  in  fief,  the  conquest  of  which  had  cost 
the  empire  much  blood  and  treasure;  Bodolph  of  Haps- 
burg  thus  becoming  the  founder  of  the  reigning  dynasty 

of  Austria. 

After  settling  other  family  afialrs,  and  having  humbled 
the  enemies  of  the  empire,  the  Emperor,  although  now 
of  an  advanced  age,  set  out  on  a  progress  through  every 
part  of  Germany,  listening  to  complaints  and  redressing 
grievances.  During  an  expedition  through  Thuringia, 
he  caused  sixty-six  castles  of  the  robber  nobles  to  be 
demolished,  and  twenty-nine  of  their  owners  to  be  hanged 
in  chains  at  Erfui-t.  Thus  occupied  at  home,  he  had  not 
time  to  think  seriously  of  visiting  Italy,  in  order  to  be 
crowned  there.  Moreover,  he  was  so  far  from  sharmg 
the  opinions  of  his  predecessors  touching  that  country, 
that,  in  a  treaty  with  Gregoiy  X.,  he  ceded  all  the  rights 
of  the  empire  over  the  territories  of  the  church.  He 
could  congratulate  himself  on  having  thus  got  rid  of  that 
destructive  allurement  which  had  led  former  Emperors  to 
undertake  expeditions  into  Italy. 

Rodolph,  towards  the  close  of  his  reign,  urged  the 
Diet  of  Frankfort  to  recognise  his  son  as  Emperor;  but 


152 


HISTORY   OF   GERMANY. 


[period  V. 


1273-15i>0.] 


ABOLPII   OP   NASSAU. 


153 


tlie  great  princes,  jealous  and  already  tired  of  Kodolpli's 
government  which  they  found  too  rigorous,  because  he 
hindered  them  from  pursuing  their  pai-ticular  interests, 
rejected  that  proposal;  so  much  the  more  firmly  that 
they  thought  that  if  the  son  should  succeed  his  father, 
the  empire  would  cease  to  be  elective.  Thereupon  llo- 
dolph  retired,  weary,  sick,  and  discontented  to  Basle. 
For  a  year  afterwards  his  physicians  prolonged  his  life 
only  by  artificial  means.  He  died  at  Germershein  on  the 
r)Oth  Sept.  1291,  universally  lamented,  aged  seventy-four. 
His  memory  was  so  venerated  in  Germany  that  long  after 
his  death  the  phrase  was  in  common  use : — "  That  is  not 
the  loyalty  of  Iiodolphy 

In  the  affiiirs  of  Italy  he  took  so  little  interest  that  he 
would  not  visit  it,  even  to  receive  the  imperial  crown ;  he 
compared  it  to  the  lion's  den,  whitened  with  bones  of  the 
Emperors,  his  predecessors.  His  reign  exhibited  a  re- 
markable novelty — internal  tranquillity.  He  not  only 
preserved  peace  with  his  neighbours,  but  with  a  firm 
hand  he  suppressed  private  war  in  every  quarter,  razed  the 
bandit  fortresses  to  the  gi'ound,  and  hung  the  inmates 
by  scores.  His  probity  l)ecame  a  proverb.  "  His  very 
name,"  says  a  contemporary  chronicler,  "spread  terroi 
among  the  turbulent  barons,  joy  among  the  peoi)le;  as  light 
s])rings  from  darkness,  so  peace  arose  from  desolation." 
Well  may  the  liouse  of  Austria  glory  in  its  founder ! 

He  was  accessible  to  the  humblest  of  his  people.  See- 
ing one  day  that  his  guards  were  preventing  the  approach 
of  some  poor  men,  he  cried  out,  "  Let  them  approacli,  I 
was  not  made  Emperor  to  be  excluded  from  my  fellow 
creatures !"  But  his  highest  eulogy  is  to  be  found  in  his 
conduct  as  a  sovereign. 

Adolph  of  Nassau  (1292-1298).  — The  claim  of  Bo- 
dolph*s  son  to  the  crown  was  set  aside  through  the  craft 
of  Gerald,  Archbishop  of  INIayence.  That  corruj)t  and 
wicked  prelate,  by  bribing  the  chief  electors  with  large 
sums  of  money,  secured  the  nomination  of  his  cousin 
Adolph,  Count  of  Nassau.  He  was  prompted  to  this 
unscrupulous  manoeuvre  by  the  expectation  of  finding  in 


Adolph  a  willing  agent  for  the  accomplishment  of  his 
own  ambitious  schemes.  This  Count  of  Nassau,  though 
brave  even  to  ferocity,  had  neither  sufficient  prudence, 
power,  nor  consideration,  to  entitle  him  to  such  a  dignity. 
As  he  had  inherited  no  more  than  half  the  country  of 
Nassau,  he  enlaro;ed  his  territories  by  the  purchase  of 
Meissen  and  Thuringia  from  Albert  the  Degenerate  with 
a  large  sum  of  money  he  received  from  Edward  I.  of 
England  as  a  subsidy  towards  the  expenses  of  aiding  the 
English  king  in  a  war  against  Philip  of  France.  The 
quarrel  of  the  two  kings  having  been  suspended,  Adolph 
did  not  hesitate  to  use  the  money  as  above  stated. 

Albert  the  Degenerate,  the  bad  Margrave  of  Thuringia, 
had  repudiated  his  wife,  the  virtuous  Margaret,  daughter 
ot   Frederick   II.,  to  espouse  Cunegonde   of  Isenburg. 
When  the  persecuted  mother  was  forced  to  separate  from 
her  children,  she,  in  the  excess  of  her  grief,  bit  severely 
in  the  cheek  the  eldest,  Frederick,  as  a  lasting  reminder 
ot    his   parent's  wrongs.      The  unhappy  Margaret  died 
shortly  afterwards  at  Frankfoi-t,  and  her  sons  fled  from 
the  roof  of  their  unnatural  fixther,  but  were  soon  retaken 
and  thrown  into  prison,  where  they  would  have  perished, 
had  not  a  faithful  servant  brought  them  bread,  and  ulti^ 
mately  supplied  them  with  the  means  of  escape.     This 
execrable  margrave  further  sold  the  hereditary  posses- 
sions of  the  children  of  his  first  marriage,  and  gave  the 
proceeds  to  Albert,  the  son  of  Cunegonde.     But,  when 
the  wronged  sons  of  Margaret  were  old  enough  to  bear 
arms,  they  fought  vigorously  for  their  inheritance  against 
Adolph   and  their   father,    universally  assisted    l)y   the 
l)3ople,  who  had  grown  weary  of  the  tyranny  of  their 
depraved  and  detested  sovereign.     Happily,  the  exertions 
of  the  two  brothers  were  at  length  rewarded  by  a  partial 
recovery  of  their  territories. 

The  unworthy  conduct  of  Adolph  had  not  only  excited 
the  hatred  of  the  German  people,  but  the  Archbishop 
Gerald,  disappointed  at  not  finding  him  the  ready  tool 
he  had  expected,  broke  with  him;  and,  at  that  tricky 
prelate's  instigation,  aided  by  bribery,  a  new  Diet  was 


iU 


HISTORY  OP   GER^UXV.  [PERIOD  V. 


assembled  at  Maycnco,  wliich  accused  tlio  Emperor  of 
despoiling  the  Church,  of  receiving  the  pay  cf  a  prince 
inferior  to  himself  (Edward  I.  of  England),  and  of  having 
dismembered  the  empire  instead  of  aggrandised  it;  and, 
finally,  of  not  having  maintained  it  in  peace.  Upon, 
these  charges  the  Electors  declared  the  throne  vacant, 
and  Albert  Duke  of  Austria  was  chosen  to  fill  it.  Thisi 
was  the  first  instance  of  the  deposition  of  an  Emperor  by 
the  electoral  princes  alone,  without  any  instigation  of  the 
Po])e. 

The  two  adversaries  marched  against  each  other,  and 
fought  a  decisive  battle  near  Worms  in  1298.  Adolpli 
was  defeated,  and  slain  in  the  thick  of  tlie  fight,  some 
annalists  say  by  the  hand  of  Albert  himself. 

Albert  of  Austria  (1298-1308).— This  new  Emperor 
had  neither  the  mildness  nor  the  affability  of  his  father; 
on  the  contrary,  he  was  as  unprepossessing  in  disposition 
as  he  was  ill-favoured  of  fiice,  the  loss  of  an  eye  giving  a 
sinister  expression  to  the  singularly  repulsive  ugliness  of 
the  other  features.     A  life  of  intrigue,  danger,  and  crime, 
had  lent  a  look  of  gloom  and  severity  to  his  countenance, 
which  even  the  brilliance  of  his  coronation  at  Nurem- 
berg could  not  dispel.     Cold  and  obdurate,  his  severity 
towards  the  Archbishop  Gerald  of  Mayence  was  perhaps 
deserved,  that  wily  prelate  having  threatened  him  that,  f 
with  one  blast  of  his  horn,  he  could  call  up  as  many 
emperoi'S  as  he  pleased.     He  had,  in  fiict,  chosen  another. 
Albert  reduced  him  quickly  to  submission,  and  forced 
him  to  ask  pardon.     But,  in  many  other  instances,  his 
actions  were  not  guided  by  justice.     They  had  the  result,      / 
at  least,  of  gaining  for  him  an  extension  of  territory;       '? 
and  he   was   already  contemi)lating   the   acquisition   of       >. 
Thuringia,    Bohemia,    and    Holland,    when    an    event 
occurred  which  put  an  end  to  his  ambitious  projects. 

In  1308,  the  three  Swiss  cantons  of  Uri,  Schwyz,  and 
XJnterwalden,  having  revolted  against  tlic  Dukes  of 
Austria,  Albert  swore  to  wreak  sanguinary  vengeance 
upon  the  rebellious  mountaineers.  In  an  expedition  he 
undertook  to  the  Swiss  frontiers  with  the  purpose  of 


1273-1520.] 


ALBERT   01*   AUSTRIA, 


155 


raising  forces  for  the  suppression  of  the  revolt,  and  after- 
wards making  war  upon  Bohemia,  he  took  with  him 
his  nephew,  John  of  Bohemio,  the  son  of  his  deceased 
brother  Bodolph,  from  whom  he  had  withheld  his  patri- 
monial inheritance  of  Hapsburg,  although  only  his 
guardian.  In  vain  had  the  young  man  often  implored 
his  uncle  to  restore  those  possessions  of  which  the  younger 
branch  of  the  family  had  been  unjustly  deprived;  but  his 
pi-ayers  -were  always  met  with  a  refusal.  At  length, 
associating  himself  with  some  discontented  nobles  who 
nourished  a  secret  hatred  against  Albert,  four  of  them 
resolved  to  assassinate  him. 

On  the  first  day  of  May  1308,  the  Emperor  was  riding 
slowly  with  a  few  attendants  through  the  fields  at  the 
Toot  of  the  hills  crowned  by  the  castle  of  Hapsburg,  nob 
far  from  which  his  camp  was  pitched.  The  ferry  by 
which  the  retinue  had  to  cross  the  Reuss  being  already 
in  sight,  the  conspirators  pressed  onwards  to  enter  the 
small  boat  that  was  to  convey  the  Emperor,  in  order  to 
separate  him  from  his  escort.  Having  reached  the  river, 
John  and  his  fellow  conspirators,  rushing  forwards,  suc- 
ceeded in  entering  the  boat  with  the  Emperor  and  one 
solitary  attendant.  On  landing  they  remounted  and 
rode  at  a  smart  pace  until  they  gained  a  sort  of  coppice, 
the  thick  growth  of  which  hid  them  from  tlie  sight  of  the 
rest  of  the  retinue,  who  were  waiting  on  the  other  bank 
for  the  return  of  the  boat.  Suddenly  John  seized  his 
uncle's  bridle-rein,  and  shouted  loudly  and  energetically, 
*'  Let  us  now  see  whether  the  possessions  of  my  father 
will  be  restored  to  me."  The  Emperor,  though  startled, 
preserved  his  presence  of  mind,  and  tried  to  calm  his 
nephew  by  fixir  promises;  but  tlie  matter  had  gone  too 
fiir.  "  How  long  will  ye  suffer  this  carrion  io  sit  on 
horseback?"  passionately  exclaimed  Eudolph  of  Balm, 
as  he  stabbed  the  Emperor  with  his  dagger,  whilst  at  the 
same  moment  Walter  d'Eschenbach  clove  his  skull  with 
the  blow  of  a  sword.  Albert  fell  to  the  ground  senseless, 
bathed  in  his  blood.  A  poor  woman  who  witnessed  the 
deed  hastened  to  render  the  wounded  monarch  assistance 


1.3  G 


HI6T0RY    OF   GERMANY. 


[period  r. 

by  trying  to  stauiicli  tlie  blood;  but  the  blows  dealt  by  tlio 
assassins  were  mortal,  and  in  a  few  moments  lie  died  in 
her  arms.    John  fled  into  Italy,  and,  stung  by  remorse  at 
a  sense  of  his  guilt,  he  threw  himself  at  the  Pope's  feet, 
who  sentenced  him,  at  the  request  of  the  Emperor,  Henry 
VII.  (of  Luxemburg),  to  confinement  for  life  in  an  Augus- 
tine convent  at  Pisa.     One  of  the  assassins,  Wart,  was 
arrested  and  broken  on  the  wheel  at  the  spot  where  the 
murder  was  committed.     His  crushed  and  mangled  limbs 
were  transferred  to  another  wheel,  and  set  up'  on  a  pole 
by  the  wayside,  where  he  was  left  to  die  a  lingering  death. 
His  wife,  Adelaide  de  Sargans,  who  was  taken  with  him, 
shared  his  dungeon  with  a  babe  at  her  breast.     The  child 
died  from  want  of  food,  the  mother's  milk  failing.     Ade- 
laide,  on  the  day  of  her  husband's  execution^  having 
obtained  her  release  from  prison,  witnessed  his  torture 
and  strove  to  alleviate  his  sufferings  by  her  affectionate 
care,   remaining   day  and  night   beneath  the  wheel  to 
moisten  his  parched  lips  with  a  sponge  dipped  in  water. 
When  all  was  over  she  entered  a  convent  at  Bisle,  where 
the  fliithful  relict  of  Wart  soon  afterwards  died  of  gi-ief. 
Tlie  remains  of  tlie  late  Emperor  were  laid,   with  all 
marks  of  respect  and  honour,  by  the  side  of  his  predeces- 
sor, Adolph,  in  the  cathedral  of  Si)ires. 

Frederick  *'  with  the  bitten  cheek,"  also  expired  (a  d 
1319),  worn  out  with  toil  and  laden  with  years,  after 
having  succeeded  in  recovering  his  family  rights.     He 
was   succeeded   in   Meissen  by  his   son,  Frederick   the 
Stern. 

The  Swiss  War  of  Independence—William  Tell.-^ 

Switzerland  originally  formed  a  part  of  the  kingdom  of 
Aries  or  Burgundy,  and  was  united  later  on  to  the  rest 
ot  the  dominions  of  Eodolph.  It  contained  a  numerous 
and  powerful  nobility,  and  several  rich  ecclesiastical 
lords.  Its  towns  of  Zurich,  Basle,  Berne,  and  Friburor 
rose  into  importance.  Among  the  nobles  the  Counts  of 
Hapsburg  gradually  became  the  most  powerful;  they 
were  advocates  to  several  convents,  some  of  which  had 
estates  in  the  forest- cant oj is  of  Schwvtz  and  Underwald, 


1273-1520.]        SWISS   WAR  OF   INDEPENDENCE. 


157 


The  peoi)le  of  these  cantons  reposed  confidence  in  Bo- 
dolph,  the  first  Emperor  of  the  House  of  Hapsburg;  but 
they  distrusted  his  son,  the  cold  and  heartless  Albert, 
who  justified  their  suspicions;  for,  not  satisfied  with  the 


CATHEDRAL,    SPIRES. 

rights  which,  as  advocate  of  the  convents,  he  possessed 
over  a  part  of  the  forest-cantons,  he,  wishing  to  annex 
them  to  the  dukedom  of  Austria,  sent  imperial  bailiffs  to 
administer  justice  in  the  whole  of  these  cantons.     The 


153 


HISTORY  OF   GERMANY. 


[period  V. 


people  were  indignant  at  tliis  attemi)t  to  reduce  them  to 
servitude.  Three  men,  Sfcauffacher  of  Schwytz,  Furst  of 
Uri,  Melchthal  of  Unterwahl,  each  with  ten  companions, 
met  by  night  in  a  secret  vaUey,  and  swore  to  assert  tlie 
liberty  of  their  country.  It  was,  therefore,  the  encroach- 
ments of  ducal,  not  imperial  tyranny,  that  drove  these 
brave  mountaineers  to  vindicate  their  independence  with 
the  sword.  The  encroachments  which  the  confederates 
of  Gruttli  pledged  themselves  to  withstand  was  the 
attempt  to  degrade  their  land  from  being  a  free  fief  of 
the  empire  into  becoming  a  part  of  the  hereditary  posses- 
sions of  the  House  of  Austria. 

William  Tell,  a  bravo  and  honest  peasant,  was  the 
popular  hero  of  this  band  of  liberators,  who,  driven  at 
length  into  oi)en  rebellion  by  a  series  of  insults  offered  to 
them  by  Gessler,  the  Austrian  bailiff  of  Uri,  made  a  suc- 
cessful stand  against  the  tyrannical  Duke  Albert.  Seve- 
ral circumstances  of  his  life,  even  his  existence,  have 
been  doubted;  but  it  seems  clearly  proved  that  he  really 
shared  in  the  struggles  and  deliverance  of  his  country. 
Born  at  Burghen,  in  the  canton  of  Uri,  he  married  the 
daughter  of  Walter  Fui-st  of  Altinghausen,  who  had  taken 
the  oath:(7th  Sept.  1307)  at  the  Gruttli  with  Arnold  de 
Melclithal  and  Werner  de  Stauflacher.  Gessler  had 
caused  to  be  fixed  upon  a  pole  in  the  market-place  of 
Altorf  a  hat  (the  ducal  hat  according  to  John  de  Muller), 
commanding  the  Swiss  to  bow  their  heads  whilst  passing 
it.  Tell  indignantly  refused  to  obey  that  humiliating 
order.  The  tyrant,  furious  at  the  audacity  of  the  recu- 
sant, compelled  him,  under  pain  of  death,  to  shoot  au 
arrow,  at  a  distance  of  one  hundred  and  twenty  paces, 
through  an  apple  placed  uj)on  the  head  of  the  youngest 
of  his  boys  (18th  Nov.  1307).  Tell  shot  so  true  that  he 
pierced  the  apple  without  harming  his  son.  Gessler  then 
perceiving  a  second  arrow  hidden  beneath  his  belt,  asked 
him  what  it  was  for.  Tell  would  have  excused  himself 
by  saying  that  it  was  the  common  custom  of  archers;  but 
Gessler,  seeing  him  confused,  pressed  him  to  disclose  the 
real  reason,  promising  that,  whatever  ho  miglit  say,  his 


1273-15-20.] 


WILLIAM   TELL. 


150 


life  should  be  safe.  "  Well,  then,"  replied  William  Tell, 
"  I  will  speak  the  truth.  If  I  had  slain  my  son,  the 
second  arrow  should  have  pierced  thy  heart."  "  I  pro- 
mised thee  thy  life,"  replied  Gessler;  "  but  since  thou  art 
thus  evil  disposed  towards  me,  I  will  send  thee  to  a  place 
where  thou  shalt  never  see  sun  or  moon  more."  Gessler 
then  caused  him  to  be  loaded  with  chains,  and  thrown 
into  a  boat;  and,  fearing  lest  he  should  be  rescued  by 
his  companions,  he  determined  to  conduct  him  himself  to 
the  strong  fortress  of  Kussnacht.  They  embarked  upon 
the  lake  of  the  Four  Cantons;  and  scarcely  were  they  in 
front  of  the  Gruttli  than  the  jocher,  an  impetuous  wind 
frcn  the  south  which  often  blows  in  these  regions,  raised 


tell's  chapel. 
a  violent  storm,  which  rendered  the  small  skilT  unman- 
ageable. Tell  was  known  to  be  a  skilful  boatman,  and 
he  averred  that  he  could  steer  the  skiff  to  a  point  where 
they  could  land  safely.  Gessler,  terrified,  consented  to 
Lis  chains  being  taken  off,  and  trusted  him  with  the 
helm.  Tell  directed  the  boat  shorcwards  towards  a  rocky 
platform  which  still  bears  the  name  of  TeWs  Leap,  situ- 
ated on  the  Schwytz  shore.  There,  snatching  his  bow, 
he  sprang  ashore  from  the  skiff,  thrusting  it  back  with 
his  foot,  thereby  leaving  his  enemy  exposed  to  the  fury 
of  the  waves.     Gessler^  however,  escaped  also,  and  con- 


160 


HISTORY   OF    GERMANY. 


[period  V. 


tinned  Lis  way  by  land  towards  Knssnacht.  Tell  waited 
for  him  by  the  roadside,  until  he  had  entered  a  hollow, 
woody  pass,  and,  watching  his  opportunity,  took  a  steady 
aim  at  the  tyrant,  and  sent  an  arrow  through  his  heart. 
After  this  exploit,  Tell's  life  becomes  ol)SCure.  We  learn 
only  that  he  fought  in  the  battle  of  Morgarten  (1315), 
and  that  he  died  at  Bingen,  receiver  of  the  church  of 
that  city  in  1354.  His  death  was  another  devoted  act, 
for  he  perished  in  an  attem2)t  to  save  a  child  who  had 
fallen  into  a  torrent.  The  governor  of  Uri  decreed  that, 
on  the  anniversary  of  his  death,  a  sermon  should  be 
delivered  at  the  spot  where  stood  the  house  of  Tell,  "  our 
beloved  citizen,  and  restorer  of  our  liberties,  in  eternal 
memory  of  Heaven's  benefits,  and  the  happy  deeds  of  the 
hero."  Thirty  years  later  a  chapel  was  built  upon  the 
site  on  which  that  house  had  stood. 

Henry  VII.  of  Luxemburg  (1308-1313).  — On  the 
tragical  death  of  Albert,  the  crown  of  Germany  was 
claimed  by  Philip  the  Handsome  {le  Ikl)  of  France  for 
liis  brother  Charles;  the  electors,  however,  dreaded  his 
power,  and  refused  to  elect  him.  The  eyes  of  many 
jninces  were  turned  to  Frederick,  Duke  of  Austria;  but 
the  father  had  never  been  popular;  and  the  cruelty  with 
which  some  of  the  members  of  the  family,  especially 
Agnes  his  daughter,  widow  of  Andrew  III.  King  of  Hun- 
gary, revenged  the  murder  of  that  monarch,  increased  the 
feeling  of  dissatisfaction.  Through  the  intrigues  of  Peter, 
archbishop  of  Mentz,  the  election  fell  on  Henry,  Count 
of  Luxemburg,  brother  of  Baldwin,  archbishop  of  Treves. 
Henry  was  proclaimed  Emperor  at  Beuse  (1308),  near 
Braubach,  on  the  left  bank  of  the  Rhine,  and  there 
crowned.  The  two  other  crowns,  the  iron  one  in  Lom- 
bardy,  and  the  impeiial  crown,  were  still  in  Italy. 
Henry  was  one  of  the  noblest  monarchs  who  ever  sat  on 
the  throne  of  Germany.  Deeply  conscious  of  the  duties 
imposed  upon  him  by  his  station,  he  followed  in  the  step.s 
of  Charlemagne  and  Barbarossa,  and  worthily  upheld  the 
dignity  and  honour  of  the  empire,  ever  remaining  a 
stranger  to  the  petty  policy  of  his  late  predecessors,  who 


1273-1520.] 


LOUIS  V. 


161 


sacrificed  the  state  for  the  sake  of  increasing  the  wealth 
and  influence  of  their  own  houses. 

The  reign  of  Henry  VII.  was  destined  to  be  short.  His 
predecessors,  during  half  a  century,  had  wisely  refrained 
from  interfering  in  the  afliaii^  of  Italy;  and  had  thereby 
avoided  the  imhapi^y  ^^^^  ^^  many  whose  bones,  as 
Rodolph  truly  observed,  whitened  that  den  of  wild  beasts. 
But  dazzled  by  his  unexpected  elevation,  and  that  of  his 
son,  who  acquired  the  crown  of  Bohemia  by  his  marriage 
with  Elizabeth,  grand-daughter  of  Ottocar,  he  resolved,  in 
a  fatal  hour,  to  restore  the  supremacy  of  the  empire  over 
Lombardy  and  Tuscany.  His  transactions  in  Italy  must 
be  sought  in  the  histories  of  that  country.  Here  we  need 
only  observe,  that,  though  for  a  moment  Lombardy  sub- 
mitted, and  he  received  the  imperial  crown  at  Home  from 
the  hands  of  three  cardinals,  to  whom  Clement  V.  (still 
at  Avignon)  delegated  the  necessary  powers,  he  suddenly 
died  at  Buonconventi,  near  Sienna,  poisoned  during  supper 
by  a  monk  (August  24, 1313).  With  his  expiring  breath 
he  said  to  his  murderer :  "  You  have  given  me  death  in 
the  cup  of  life,  but  fly,  ere  my  followers  seize  you ! ''  The 
death  of  Henry  replunged  Germany  into  horrors  to  which, 
since  the  extinction  of  the  Swabian  line  of  emperors,  it 
had  been  a  stranger. 

Louis  V.  of  Bavaria  and  Frederick  of  Austria  (1314- 

1347). — On  the  death  of  the  noble-hearted  Emperor,  the 
empire  again  fell  a  prey  to  the  adverse  factions  of  the 
Guelphs  and  Ghibellines.  The  rancour  of  the  Papal 
French  party  had  been  again  excited  by  Henry's  expedi- 
tion to  Borne,  and  the  Ha2:)sburgs  once  more  appeared  on 
the  scene  as  its  supportei-s  and  tools.  Frederick  the  Hand- 
some  was,  consequently,  zealously  recommended  by  the 
Pope  as  the  successor  to  the  crown,  for  which  a  com- 
petitor also  appeared  in  the  person  of  John  of  Bohemia, 
the  son  of  the  late  Emperor;  but  his  youth  proved  the 
chief  obstacle,  and,  after  some  consideration,  he  ceded  his 
rights  in  favour  of  Louis  of  Bavaria.  Although  Louis 
was  a  member  of  the  Austro-Hapsburg  family,  his  mother 
being  a  daughter  of  Boclolph  I.,  he  had  always  been  the 


1G2 


HISTORY  OP   GERMANY. 


[period  V. 


enemy  of  the  Austrian  princes,  and  in  tlie  same  dogreo 
the  ally  of  the  Luxemburg  factions.     The  two  candidates 
bein'^  respectively  crowned  Kings  of  the  Romans— Louis 
at  Aix-la-Ohapellc,  by  the  Archbishop  of  Mentz,  Frederick 
at  Bonn,  by  the  Metropolitan  of  Cologne,  a  civil  war  was 
inevitable :  neither  had  virtue  enough  to  sacrifice  his  own 
rights  to  the  good  of  the  state.     As  both  had  great  mili- 
tary talents,  equal  enterprise  and  resolution,  the  contest 
could  not  fail  to  be  severe  and  protracted.     Fortunately 
for  Louis,  the  Austrian  forces  were  defeated  by  the  hardy 
natives  of  Helvetia,  who  from  hatred  to  the  memory  of 
Albert,  and  his  rapacious  officers,  had  declared  for  the 
Bavarian  and  Bohemian  faction.     Yet,  after  all,  the  con- 
test would  have  ended  in  favour  of  the  Austrians,  but 
for  the  rashness  of  Frederick,  who,  in  September  1322, 
without  waiting  for  the  arrival  of  his  brother  Leopold, 
assailed  Louis  not  fiir  from  Milhldorf  in  Lower  Bavaria. 
With  his  usual  magnanimity,  Frederick,  considering  that 
the  pre-eminence  of  danger  was  his  proper  duty,  arrayed 
himself  in  splendid  armour,  on  which  was  emblazoned  the 
cognizance  of  his  house;  and  on  his  head  he  wore  a  helmet 
surmounted  by  a  crown,  thus  exhibiting  himself  on  tho 
one  hand  as  the  rallying  point  of  his  followers,  on  tho 
other  as  a  mark  to  the  enemy.     Louis  who  was  more 
prudent  though  not  less  brave,  placed    himself  in  tho 
centre;  but  distrusting  his  own  talents  as  a  general,  he 
left  the  command  to  Schweppermann,  one  of  the  most 
experienced  captains  of  the  age.     The  battle  was  main- 
tained with  equal  valour  from  the  rising  to  the  setting 
sun;  and  was  evidently  in  f\ivour  of  the  Austrians,  when 
an  unexpected  charge  in  flank  by  a  body  of  cavalry  under 
the  Margi-ave  of  Nuremberg  decided  the  fortune  of  tho 
day.     Frederick   was   surrounded   and   taken   prisoner. 
The  flower  of  the  Austrian  nobility,  among  others  three- 
and-twenty  of  the  ftimily  of  Trautmannsdorf,  strewed  tho 
field.     After  the  battle,  Louis  gratefully  acknowledged 
the  services  of  his  commander-in-chief  Schweppermann, 
to  whose  skill  he  entirely  owed  his  success.     A  basketful 
of  e;ri?s  being  all  that  could  be  found  for  the  imperial 


1273-1520.] 


.LOUIS  V. 


163 


table,  the  Emperor  distributed  them  among  his  officers, 
saying:  "  To  each  of  you  one  egg,  to  our  gallant  Schwep- 
])ermann  two!"  The  latter  was  of  diminutive  stature, 
old  and  lame,  but  skilled  in  the  tactics  of  the  time.  The 
Emperor's  words  on  this  occasion  may  be  still  read  on  this 
officer's  tombstone  at  Castel,  near  Amberg.  Frederick 
was  imprisoned  in  the  castle  of  Trausnitz,  near  Landshut. 
But  the  contest  was  not  yet  decided ;  the  valiant 
Leopold  was  still  at  the  head  of  a  superior  force;  and 
Pope  John  XXII.,*  the  natural  enemy  of  the  Ghibellines, 
incensed  at  some  succours  which  Louis  sent  to  that  party 
in  Lombardy,  excommmiicated  the  King  of  the  Komans, 
and  declared  him  deposed  from  his  dignity.  By  Leopold 
he  was  signally  defeated;  and  he  had  the  mortification 
to  see  the  inconstant  King  of  Bohemia  join  the  party  of 
Austria.  In  this  emergency,  his  only  chance  of  safety 
was  a  reconciliation  with  his  enemies;  and  Frederick 
was  released  on  condition  of  his  renouncing  all  claim  to 
the  empire.  But  though  Frederick  sincerely  resolved  to 
fulfil  his  share  of  the  compact,  Leopold  and  the  other 
princes  of  the  family  refused;  and  their  refusal  was 
approved  by  the  Pope.  With  the  magnanimity  of  his 
character,  Frederick,  unable  to  execute  the  engagements 
he  had  made,  voluntarily  surrendered  himself  to  his 
enemy.  But  Louis,  who  would  not  be  outdone  in  gene- 
rosity, received  him,  not  as  a  prisoner,  but  a  friend. 
"They  ate,"  says  a  contemporary  writer,  "at  the  same 
table,  slept  on  the  same  couch;"  and  when  the  King  left 
Bavaria,  the  administration  of  that  duchy  was  confided 
to  Frederick.  Two  such  men  could  not  long  remain  even 
politically  hostile;  and  by  another  treaty  (September  2, 
1325),  it  was  agreed  that  they  should  exercise  conjointly 
the  government  of  the  empire.  When  this  arrangement 
was  condemned  both  by  the  Pope  and  the  electors,  Louis 

*  This  Pontiflf  surpassed  most  of  his  predecessors  in  pride  and 
tyranny.  He  kept  his  seat  on  the  Papal  chair,  having  humbled 
his  competitor,  Isicholas  V.,  and  left  at  his  death  an  immense 
treasure,  accumulated  by  the  sale  of  benefices,  while  his  rival, 
the  Emperor,  died  in  indigence. 


Ig4  HISTORY   OF   GERMANY.  [PERlOD    V. 

proposed  to  take  Italy  as  his  seat  of  government,  and 
leave  Germany  to  Frederick.     But  the  death  of  the  war- 
like Leopold— the  great  support  of  the  Austrian  cause— 
and  the  continued  opposition  of  the  States  to  any  com- 
promise, enabled  Louis  to  retain  the  sceptre  of  the  king- 
dom; and  in  1330,  the  decease  also  of  Frederick  strength- 
ened his  party.  ,  .        .  i    x*  « i 
Louis  V.  reigns  alone.— But  his  reign  was  destined 
to  be  one  of  troubles.     The  year  following  the  victory  of 
Miihldorf,  Louis  had  been  cited  to  appear  to  plead  betore 
the  Pope  at  Avignon;  and,  on  his  refusal  to  appear,  the 
whole   empire  was  placed  under  an   interdict.      Louis 
retaliated  by  passing  into  Italy,  and  assuming  the  iron 
crown  at  Milan;  after  which  he  pronounced  the  ban  ot 
the  empire  against  the  King  of  Naples;  and,  deposing  the 
Pope,  placed  on  the  Papal  throne   a  Minorite   monk, 
Nicholas  V.,  by  whom  he  was  crowned  at  Rome.     As,  by 
the  death  of  Frederick,  Louis  had  become  sole  Emperor, 
he,  after  his  return  to  Germany,  summoned  a  Diet  at 
Reuse  on  the  Rhine,  where  the  electors  made  the  follow- 
incr  declamtion :— "  That  the  German  Emperor  was  the 
highest  power  on  earth,  and  dependent  for  his  election  on 
none  but  the  princes  of  Germany."    This  decree  was  at 
once  signified  to  the  Pope  by  a  special  letter. 

But  now  Louis  imprudently  compromised  himselt  m 
the  eyes  of  his  subjects  by  an  act  of  treachery  towards  a 
forei4  ally.  Edward  III.  of  England  being  engaged  in 
a  sanguinary  war  with  France,  Louis  at  first  embraced 
his  cause,  but  soon  with  strange  fickleness  deserted  that 
alliance,  and  attached  himself  to  the  French,  the  enemies 
of  his  country  and  of  freedom,  and  sent  his  own  son  Louis 
with  an  army  to  act  against  England. 

The  adversaries  of  Louis,  particularly  Clement  VI., 
carried  their  animosity  so  far  as  to  elect,  in  1346,  in  an 
assembly  which  included  certain  princes,  as  Emperor  of 
Germany,  the  son  of  King  John  of  Bohemia,  Charles, 
Mar^n^ve  of  Moravia,  a  prince  who  had  been  brought  up 
in  the  court  of  Fmnce.  He  enjoyed  no  consideration  so 
lon<^  as  Louis  lived;  but  that  unfortunate  Emperor  wa3 


1273-1520.] 


CHARLES   IV. 


165 


killed  in  the  year  following,  during  a  bear  hunt,  by  a  blow 
intended  for  the  animal  whilst  at  bay.  Louis  was  the 
last  Emperor  excommunicated  by  the  Popes. 

Charles  IV.  (1346-1378).— Twelve  months  before  the 
decease  of  Louis,  Charles  of  Bohemia,  assisted  by  Clem- 
ent VI.,  was  elected  King  of  the  Romans.  But  in  re- 
turn he  had  signed  a  shameful  capitulation  with  the  Pope 

one  by  which  the  state,  no  less  than  the  church  of 

Germany,  was  placed  at  the  feet  of  that  haughty  and 
corinipt  Pontiff.     For  this  and  other  reasons  many  of  the 
princes  were  now  unwilling  to  confirm  the  election.    Four 
of  them  had  offered  the  imperial  crown  to  the  conqueror 
of  Crecy,  which  the  English  Parliament,  fearing  lest  an 
Emperor  of  Germany  might  forget  his  duty  as  King  of 
England,  would  not  permit  him  to  accept.     An  anti- 
Ctesar,  however,  was  found  in  Gunther,  Count  of  Schwart- 
zenburg,  a  prince  of  great  militaiy  reputation,  and  the 
unshak*en  friend  of  the  deceased  sovereign.     This  opposi- 
tion was  inevitable  in  a  country  where  the  two  rival 
fixmilies  of  Luxemburg  and  Austria  were  pursuing  each 
other  with  deadly  animosity.      Charles   IV.,  however, 
craftily  entered  into  negotiation  with  Edward  of  England, 
to  whom  he  proved  the  necessity  of  an  alliance  between 
them  against  France,  drew  the  Hapsburg  araiy  on  his 
side  by  giving  his  daughter,  Catherine,  in  marriage  to 
Rodolph  the  son  of  Albert  the  Lame;  and,  with  equal 
skill,  dissolved  the  Wittelsbach  confederacy  by  weddmg 
Anna,  the  daughter  of  the  Pfalzgrave  Rupei-t,  by  ceding 
Brandenburg  to  Louis  the  Elder,  and  declaring  Walde- 
mar  whom  he  had  himself  invested  with  that  electorate, 
an  impostor;  Louis  the  Elder,  with  equal  perfidy,  sacri- 
ficing Gunther,  who  was  shortly  afterwards  poisoned  by 
one  of  Charles's  emissaries,  a.d.  1347.     Charles  IV.,  the 
tool  of  Papal  and  French  policy,  now  found  himself  con- 
strained, owing  to  his  dependence  upon  his  father,  to 
serve  the  French  monarch  against  England,  although,  as 
will  be  hereafter  seen,  he  was  too  prudent  a  politician 
and  too  sensible  of  his  dignity  to  allow  himself  to  be 
lon^  enchained  to  the  petty  interest  of  the  French  king. 


166 


HISTORY  OF  GERMAKY.  [PERIOD  V. 


1273-1520.] 


THE   BLACK   DEATlt. 


167 


Edward  of  England,  on  landing  in  Flanders,  was,  notwith- 
standing the  death  of  Artevelde,  who,  falsely  suspected 
of  a  design  of  selling  Flanders  to  England,  had  been 
assassinated  by  his  countrymen,  received  with  open  arms 
by  the  citizens,  and  joined  by  Henry  the  Iron,  of  Hol- 
stein.  The  French  suffered  a  total  defeat  at  Crecy  (Aug. 
26,  1346).  The  Emperor's  behaviour  on  this  occasion 
was  far  from  heroic,  for  he  was  among  the  first  to  flee, 
whilst  his  brave  father,  King  John  of  13ohemia,  who  had 
been  blind  for  many  years,"^  bound  between  two  knights, 
plunged  headlong  into  the  thickest  of  the  fight,  in  the 
vain  hope  of  turning  the  battle.  With  him  fell  Rodolph 
of  Lotharingia,  Louis  of  Nevers,  and  all  the  Germans 
who  had  so  uselessly  ventured  their  honour  and  their 
lives  in  a  stranger's  cause,  in  that  of  their  hereditary  foe. 
When  the  death  of  the  German  princes  was  told  to  the 
English  kmg,  he  exclaimed :  "  O  ye  Germans !  how  could 
ye  die  for  a  French  king ! "  The  sword  of  the  blind 
Bohemian  king  bore  the  inscription  "  Ich  dlen  !  "  I  serve, 
that  is,  "  God,  the  ladies,  and  right,"  which  was  on  this 
occasion  assumed  by  the  Prince  of  Wales  as  his  motto. 

In  1355,  Charles  published  the  imperial  constitution, 
termed  the  Golden  Bidl  (so  called  from  the  knob  of  gold 
bulla  aurea  in  which  its  seal  is  inclosed),  which  definitely 
fixed  the  number  and  prerogatives  of  the  electors,  and  ^ 
became  the  fundamental  law  of  the  empire.  The  number 
of  electors  was  fixed,  in  conformity  "with  ancient  custom, 
at  seven,  who  were  to  represent  the  seven  candlesticks 
of  the  Apocalypse,  and  the  seven  gifts  of  the  Holy  Ghost. 
Thus  Charles  settled  on  them — himself  as  King  of  Bo- 
hemia being  one — all  the  hereditary  offices  of  the  state,  | 
and  imprudently  placed  in  their  hands  the  whole  power  , 
of  the  empii'e.  | 

Of  Charles's  foreign  policy  little  need  be  said.     He     j 
observed  treaties  with  France  or  England  just  so  long  as 
suited   his  interests.      Into   Italy  he   twice   descended; 
once  to  receive  the  imperial  crown,  the  second  time  under 

*  John  had  lost  one  of  his  eyes  during  his  Polish  expedition, 
the  other  through  the  ignorance  of  his  medical  attendants. 


I)retext  of  restoring  the  supremacy  of  the  empire.     In 
both  expeditions  he  sold  its  rights  to  the  highest  bidder, 
and  returned  to  Germany,  followed  by  the  curses  or  the 
contempt,  not  merely  of  Italy,  but  of  Europe.     Cowardly 
in  his  nature,  he  carefully  avoided  the  field  of  battle; 
avaricious  beyond  example,  he  made  everything  venal; 
faithless   in    his   engagements,    he    sacrificed    his  most 
devoted  adherents  every  moment  he  could  do  so  with 
advantage;    incapable  of  justice,  or  humanity,   or  any 
good  principle,  he  hesitated  at  no  means  by  which  his 
ends  could  be  attained.     In  his  opinion  the  only  use  of 
the  empii-e  was  the  power  to  pillage  it;  of  the  imperial 
crown,  to  exchange  its  dignity  for  somctliing  more  sub- 
stantial.      Though   wholly   destitute   of  comprehensive 
views  he  must  have  had  talent  of  some  kind,  or  he  could 
never  have  brought  Brandenburg,  Silesia,  Lusatia,  and  a 
portion  of  the  Upper  Palatinate  into  his  family;    and 
that,  too,  without  shedding  one  drop  of  blood.     Nor  must 
it  be  forgotten  that  he  extended  the  commerce,  encouraged 
the  industry,  and  promoted  the  prosperity  of  Bohemia— 
of  the  empire  he  w^as  utterly  regardless — and  that  he 
founded  the  University  of  Prague,  the  first  that  ever 
existed  in  Germany.     But  if  his  memory  be  dear  to  his 
own  kingdom,  it  is  odious  to  any  right-minded  German. 
Charles  died  in  1378,  on  liis  return  from  France,  whither 
he  had  gone  for  the  purpose  of  establishing  peace  between 
that  country  and  Germany. 

The  Black  Death  (1349).— Early  in  this  reign  the  most 
destructive  plague  recorded  in  modern  history  raged  in 
every  part  of  Germany.  Beginning  in  the  northern  parts 
of  Asia,  it  penetrated  to  the  most  distant  regions  of 
Europe,  destroying  one-third  of  the  inhabitants  of  every 
country  through  which  it  passed.  The  narrative  of  this 
terrible  pestilence,  commonly  called  "  the  Black  Death," 
of  its  physical  eftects,  and  its  moral  influence  among  a 
more  refined  and  polished  people,  which  Boccacio  has 
prefixed  to  his  Dccamerone,  is  not  surpassed  even  by  the 
accounts  of  a  similar  visitation  left  us  by  the  greatest 
writers  of  antiquity.     But  in  Germany,  to  the  evils  in- 


f 


168 


HISTORY   OF   GERMANY.  [PERIOD  V. 


separable   from   sucli   a  calamity,  were    added  all   the 
horrors  arising  from  the  power  of  superstition  acting 
upon  a  brutal  and  ignorant  populace.     The  Jews,  always 
the  first  object  of  popular  antipathy,  were  accused  by 
some  fanatics  termed  Flagellants^  who  had  acquired  extra- 
ordinary influence  by  the  severity  of  their  mortifications, 
of  having  caused  the  prodigious  mortality  by  infusing 
poison  into  the  wells  and  fountains.    This  absurd  rumour 
was  secretely  propagated  and  encouraged  by  the  nobles, 
who  were  deeply  indebted  to  this  unhappy  race,  and  who 
hoped  to  escape  all  payment  by  the  destruction  of  their 
creditors.       The  people   needed  but  a  hint  from  their 
leaders  to  begin  hostilities  against  a  race  whom  they 
hated  for   their   religion,  and  envied  for  their  wealth. 
Their  rage  broke  out  with  incredible  fury  3  at  Mentz  and 
other  cities  the  most  excruciating  torments  were  inflicted 
upon  the  Jews;  at  Strasburg  2000  were  burned  alive  on 
one  pile.     It  was  long  before  the  massacre  was  stopped 
by  the  civil  magistrate,  and  few  escaped  from  the  rage  of 
the  frantic  multitude,  animated  to  their  destruction  by 
the  appetite  of  plunder,  the  desii-e  of  revenge,  and  the 
belief  that  the  slaughter  of  infidels  was  the  most  accept- 
able sacrifice  they  could  ofier  to  the  Almighty.     The  in- 
terior police  of  Germany  was  at   that  time  extremely 
defective;  many  of  the  nobles  were  combined  in  regular 
associations  for  plunder;  nor  could  any  efiectual  check 
be  given  to  these  disorders  under  the  reign  of  a  prince 
whose   timid   caution   and   naiTOW  judgment   sacrificed 
every  other  consideration  to  his  present  interests,  and  all 
of  whose  measures  wore  the  stamp  of  concession,  and  of 
indiflerence  to  the  dignity  of  his  station. 

Wenceslaus  (1378-1400).— In  the  last  will  of  Charles 
the  eldest  son  had  Bohemia  and  Silesia;  Sigismund,  the 
second,  had  the  March  of  Brandenburg;  John,  the 
youngest,  had  Schweidnitz,  Goerlitz,  and  Lusatia.  In 
virtue  of  the  preceding  election  Wenceslaus  also  succeeded 
to  the  Germanic  throne.  The  reign  of  this  prince  is  the 
most  remarkable  in  the  annals  of  the  empire.  Called  at 
too  early  an  age  to  participate  in  the  imperial  government, 


1273-1520.1 


WEKCESLAUS. 


169 


Wenceslaus  treated  afiairs  of   state  with  ridicule,    or 
entii-ely  neglected  them,  in  order  to  give  himself  up  to 
idleness  or  drunkenness.     At  one  moment  he  jested,  at 
another  burst  into  the  most  brutal  fits  of  rage.     The  Ger- 
mans, with  whom  he  never  interfered  beyond  occasionally 
holding  a  useless  Diet  at  Nuremberg,  deemed  him  a  fool; 
whilst  the  Bohemians,  who,  on  account  of  his  residence 
at  Pi-ague,  were  continually  exposed  to  his  savage  caprices, 
regarded  him  as  a  furious  tyrant.     Sunk  in  the  lowest 
sensuality,  "  semper  edendo  ac  bibendo"  says  a  chronicler, 
he  seems  to  have  dissipated  the  few  mental  powers  which 
nature  had  given  him.     To  gluttony,  drunkenness,  and 
other  vices  he  soon  added  murder.      Sending  for  the 
ghostly  confessor  of  his  wife,  he  insisted  on  knowing 
what  were  the  peccadilloes  she  had  disclosed;  and  when 
promises,  threats,  even  imprisonment,  were  employed  in 
vain  to  shake  the  reticence  of  the  priest,  he  caused  him  to 
be  thrown  from  the  bridge  of  Prague  into  the  river.     A 
solitary  murder,  even  though  the  victim  was  a  priest, 
would  have  led  to  no  consequences  either  in  Bohemia, 
which  had  been  used  to  such  tragedies,  or  at  the  Papal 
court,  since  the  Christian  world  was  now  distracted  by 
the  schism;  but  the  number  of  victims  is  said  to  have 
been  great.     He  is  even  reported  to  have  constantly  kept 
neai*  him  a  butcher  to  execute  his  sentences,  at  which  he 
was  always  present  with  delight.     Though  this  account 
may  be  safely  rejected,  it  proves  the  degree  of  estimation 
in  which  he  was  held;  and  we  may  certainly  admit  that 
a  butcher  was  one  of  his  boon  companions,  who  were 
always  chosen  from  the  dregs  of  society.     The  possessions 
with  which  the  Bohemian  nobility  had  formerly  been 
invested  by  the  crown  exciting  his  cupidity,  he  invited 
the  whole  of  the  aristocracy  to  meet  him  at  Willamow, 
where  he  received  them  under  a  black  tent,  that  opened 
on  either  side  into  a  white  and  a  red  one.     The  nobles 
were  allowed  to  enter  one  by  one,  and  were  commanded 
to  declare  what  lands  they  possessed  as  gifts  from  the 
crown.      Those  who  voluntarily  ceded  their  lands  were 
conducted  to  the  white  tent  and  feasted;  those  who  re- 


^'^^  HISTORY  OF   GERMANY.  f PERIOD  V. 

fused  were  instantly  beheaded  in  the  red  tent.     Wlien  a 
number  of  those  nobles  had  thus  been  put  to  death,  the 

iQ^QoF^'^'^mV'''^  '''^'^*  '""^  Soing  forward,  obeyed  (a.d. 
i^bJ).      There  must  have  been  extraordinary  provoca- 
tions on  his  part,  or  a  people  so  patient  of  despotism  as 
the  Bohemians  would  never  have  risen  against  him.    That, 
after  the  wanton  murder  of  two  citizens  and  two  nobles' 
the  mhabitants  of  Prague  arose,  seized,  and  consigned 
him  to  one  of  the  public  dungeons  of  the  city,  where 
during  four  months,  they  kept  him  on  bread  and  water 
without  allowing  him  any  change  of  dress,  or  any  indul- 
gence not  granted  to  other  malefactors  is,  perhaps,  the 
most  extraordinary  flict  in  all  history.     It  is  certain 
however,  that  they  would  not  have  proceeded  to  such  an 
extremity  had  they  not  been  sure  of  the  approbation  of 
his  brother  Sigismund,  who  had  succeeded  to  the  throne 
of  Hun;(arv. 

Sigismund,  having  married  the  eldest  daughter  of  Louis 
the  Great,  Kmg  of  Hungary,  succeeded  by  the  death  of 
his  father-in-law  to  the  throne  of  that  kingdom.     As  the 
dissension  between  the  free  states  and  the  confederate 
nobles  still  continued  with  unabated  violence,  Wenceslaus, 
with  a  view  of  defining  more  accurately  the  limits  of  each 
jurisdiction,  adopted  the  scheme  of  dividing  the  empire 
into  four  circles.     The  first  embraced  Upper  and  Lower 
feaxony,  the  second  the  district  stretching  along  the  Rhine 
from  Lasle  to  Holland,  the  third  Austria,  Swabia,  and 
Lavaria,  the  fourtli  Thuringia  and  Franconia.     By  this 
separation,  which  was   afterwards  completed   by  Maxi- 
miliaii  Wenceslaus  hoped  to  destroy  the  union  between 
the  cities  which  he  divided  into  different  circles.     The 
cities  at  first  refused  all  allegiance  to  the  imperial  edict, 
and  when  they  at  last  acceded  to  it  by  the  Convention  of 
Heidelberg,  it  was  on  the  express  stipulation  that  they 
sHould  maintain  their  former  league  inviolable 

Patriotism  of  Winkelried  at  Sempach.-In  the  midst 
ot  these  transactions,  the  Cantons  of  Switzerland  liad 
vindicated  their  freedom  in  another  field  of  blood  and 
gloiy.      Leopold,   Duke    of   Austria,   and    GOO   nobles 


1273-1520.] 


WENCESLAUS   DEPOSED. 


1?1 


I 

I 


perished  in  the  battle  of  Sempach.  It  was  on  that 
occasion  that  Winkelried  enobled  the  annals  of  his 
country  by  an  action  which  may  be  placed  by  the  side  of 
those  which  have  rendered  the  heroes  of  Greece  and 
Home  immortal.  Finding  that  the  serried  phalanx  of 
Austrian  lances  presented  an  impenetrable  barrier  to  the 
Swiss,  he  commended  his  soul  to  God,  and  his  children  to 
his  country,  and  then  grasping  as  many  lances  as  he  could 
seize  in  his  arms,  he  buried  them  in  his  bosom,  opening 
to  his  countrymen  the  path  of  victory,  and  leaving  to 
his  native  land  the  possession  of  her  independence. 

The  animosity  between  the  princes  and  the  free  towns 
of  Germany  became  every  day  more  violent;  the  latter 
after  the  most  terrible  reverses  had  been  obliged  to  sua 
for  peace. 

Wenceslaus  deposed  (1400). — The  Emperor,  at  a  Diet 
held  at  Nuremberg,  endeavoured  to  mediate  between  the 
contending  factions,  and  succeeded  in  restoring  some 
appearance  of  tranquillity.  The  severity  with  which 
AVenceslaus  had  repressed  the  pillage  and  disorders  of 
the  Bohemian  nobles  had  excited  their  discontent;  and 
as  he  was  prone  to  excess  in  low  debauchery,  and  was 
often  guilty  of  unseemely  and  extravagant  actions  when 
heated  by  wine,  there  were  not  wanting  plausible  grounds 
on  which  to  justify  their  disaficction.  Under  such  cir- 
cumstances we  cannot  feel  surprise  that  the  Germanic 
nation  should  wish  his  deposition  and  effect  it.  The 
result  was  hastened  by  the  hostility  of  Boniface  IX., 
whom,  no  less  than  his  rival  Benedict  XIII.,  Wenceslaus 
had  offended  by  suggesting  that  a  new  election  might  be 
made  and  an  end  put  to  the  schism  which  distracted  the 
Church.*  He  was  declared  to  have  forfeited  the  imperial 
throne,  and  his  subjects  were  released  from  their  oaths  of 
allegiance. 

In  the  choice  of  a  successor,  two  of  the  electors, 

*  The  marriage  of  Anna,  Wenceslaus'  sister,  with  Richard  II., 
King  of  England,  rendered  the  Bohemians  acquainted  with  the 
writings  of  Wicklilie,  who,  since  1360,  had  boldly  ventured  to 
attack  the  abuses  of  the  Church  of  En^dand. 


172 


HISTORY  OP  GERMANY. 


[period  V. 


Wenceslaus  himself  as  king  of  Bohemia,  and  his  brother 
Sigismund  as  mai'grave  of  Brandenburg,  could  not  pos- 
sibly concur;  since  the  one  would  never  sanction  his  own 
degradation,  nor  was  the  other  willing  to  see  the  exclu- 
sion of  his  house.  A  third,  the  Duke  of  Saxony,  refused 
to  take  any  pai-t  in  these  proceedings;  not  from  respect 
to  Wenceslaus,  but  because  he  perceived  that  the  choice 
of  the  other  electors  was  already  determined  in  favour  of 
a  candidate  obnoxious  to  him.  And  to  secure  his  neu- 
trality, if  not  concurrence,  he  was  taken  prisoner  by  an 
armed  band  in  the  interest  of  the  rest. 

Rupert,  Count  Palatine  (1410-1437).— The  suffrages 
of  the  electors  fell  on  one  of  their  number,  Rupei-t,  Count 
Palatine,  a  piince  who  had  neither  the  talents  nor  the 
influence  necessary  for  the  support  of  the  dignity.  His 
administration,  whether  in  Italy  or  Germany,  was  un- 
fortunate. One  of  the  causes  alleged  for  the  deposition 
of  Wenceslaus  was,  that  he  had  vii-tually  dissevered 
Lombardy  from  the  empire  by  creating  the  celebrated 
Giovanni  Galeazzo  Visconti  Duke  of  Slilan.  To  settle 
the  afJairs  of  that  perpetually  distracted  country,  Rupert 
j)assed  the  Alps,  and  summoned  the  Duke  to  resign  both 
the  title  and  the  domain;  but,  instead  of  an  obedient 
vassal,  he  found  an  open  enemy,  who  signally  defeated 
him.  By  favouring  the  league  of  the  Guelphs,  he  excited 
the  hostility  of  the  Ghibellines,  which,  in  this  case,  was 
the  more  bitter,  as  the  Emperors  were  the  natural  allies 
of  the  latter  party.  In  return,  he  might  indeed  expect 
to  secure  the  adherence  of  the  Guelphs,  with  Poi)e  Boni- 
face at  their  head;  but  the  assistance  he  received  was  so 
feeble,  and  the  hostility  he  excited  so  formidable,  that 
he  ingloriously  retraced  his  steps.  His  conduct  in  regard 
to  the  schism  was  no  less  impolitic.  Instead  of  abetting 
the  council  of  Pisa,  which  deposed  both  popes — the  only 
measure  that  could  give  peace  to  the  Church — he  zealously 
espoused  the  interests  of  Gregory  XII.,  and  thereby, 
gave  offence  not  only  to  the  council,  but  to  such  of  his 
subjects  as  approved  the  decision  of  the  council.  Nor 
in   Germany    itself  was  his    conduct    more  approved. 


ft 


4 


1273-1520.]        SIGISMUND,  KING   OF   HUNGARY.  173 

Attem])ting  to  restore  the  exercise  of  his  undoubted 
prerogative,  he  was  opposed  by  a  league  of  princes,  who 
assumed,  as  a  pretext,  the  necessity  of  watching  over 
the  rights  of  the  order  against  the  encroachments  of  the 
crown.  The  Emperor,  in  fact,  reigned  merely  by  suf- 
ferance: he  had  been  elected  by  seven  princes;  by  a 
majority  of  the  seven  he  might  have  been  deposed. 
That  doom  Rupert  very  narrowly  escaped.  His  unex- 
pected death  preserved  Germany  from  another  spectacle 
of  successful  rebellion. 

Sigismund,  King  of  Hungary  (1410-1437).— The  death 
of  Eupert  seemed  to  favour  the  partizans  of  Wenceslaus; 
but  the  partizans  of  his  house  preferred  the  choice  of 
his  brother  Sigismund,  King  of  Hungary.  At  Frankfort, 
Sigismund  was  illegally  elected  by  two  only  of  the  seven; 
while  five,  who  assembled  later,  gave  their  suffrages  in 
favour  of  the  Margrave  of  Moravia,  cousin-german  of 
Wenceslaus  and  Sigismund.  Thus  Germany  had  three 
kings  of  the  Romans,  two  of  whom  were  resolved  to 
defend  their  rights  with  the  sword.  But  the  horrors  of 
civil  war  were  averted  by  the  death  of  the  Margrave, 
whose  partisans,  combining  with  those  of  Sigismund, 
proceeded  to  a  new  election;  and  Sigismund  was  unani- 
mously recognised  King  of  the  Romans,  Wenceslaus  him- 
self renouncing  his  own  rights  in  favour  of  his  brother. 

Sigismund  had  given  at  his  election  an  example  of  his 
arrogant  character.  *' There  is  no  prince  in  the  empire," 
said  he,  "with  whose  merits  I  am  so  fully  acquainted  as 
with  my  own.  I  am  surpassed  by  none— either  in  power 
or  in  the  prudence  with  which  I  have  ruled,  whether  in 
prosperity  or  adversity.  Therefore  do  I,  as  Elector  of 
Brandenburg,  give  my  vote  to  Sigismund,  King  of  Hun- 
gaiy,  and  will  that  he  be  elected  King  of  Germany." 
Sigismund*s  character  was  a  combination  of  the  charac- 
teristics of  his  immediate  predecessors.  Like  Charles 
IV.,  he  was  crafty  and  politic,  but  resembled  Wenceslaus 
in  his  love  of  sensual  gratifications.  Handsome,  eloquent, 
and  lively,  he  had  no  steadiness  of  pei^on,  seeming  to  act 
on  the  impulse  of  the  moment,  and  with  a  view  to  present 


174 


HISTORY   OF   GERMANY.  [PERIOD  V. 


expediency,  rather  than  on  any  settled  plan.  The  first 
o)3Ject  of  his  attention  was  the  schism  in  the  Church, 
there  being  a  Pope  in  Italy,  another  in  France,  and  a 
third  in  Spain,  and  eacli  of  them  launched  anathemas 
against  his  adversaries  and  the  countries  subjected  to 
him.  Sigismund,  in  furtherance  of  his  favourite  design, 
acted  at  first  with  sound  policy  and  discretion;  he  sum- 
moned a  General  Council  to  meet  at  Constance,  and  in 
order  to  give  its  members  the  character  of  representatives 
of  all  Europe,  he  proclaimed  that  not  merely  the  clergy, 
but  distinguished  laymen  from  difierent  countries  should 
assist  at  its  deliberations;  the  Emperor  himself  waiving  the 
right  of  supremacy  which  the  E,omano-Germanic  empire 
had  hitherto  assumed  over  other  kingdoms,  although  its 
pretensions  were  little  more  than  a  name.  But  all  these 
fair  plans  were  ruined  by  his  own  want  of  self-C(5ntrol. 
During  the  sitting  of  the  Council,  Sigismund  gave  him- 
self up  entirely  to  low  debauchery ;  and  the  only  ellect 
of  his  condescension  was  to  make  himself  the  laughinfr- 
stock  of  the  Church,  and  give  foreign  nations  encourage- 
ment to  encroach  still  farther  on  the  privileges  of  the 
empire. 

The  Council  of  Constance  (1st  Nov.  1414). — The  place 
fixed  upon  for  this  important  assembly  of  the  spiritual 
and  temporal  powers  of  Catholic  Europe,  in  compliance 
with  the  wishes  of  the  Emperor,  but  not  in  accordance 
with  the  interests  of  the  Pope,  John  XXIII.,  was  Con- 
stance in  Switzerland;  and  the  day  appointed  for  the 
meeting  was  the  1st  of  November,  1414.  The  assem- 
blage of  ecclesiastics,  and  also  of  laymen,  on  this  occasion, 
was  immense.  The  Council  was  divided  into  four  national 
sections,  of  Italy,  France,  Germany,  and  England,  and 
the  votes  were  taken  according  to  this  division,  instead 
of  being  registered  according  to  the  opinions  of  individual 
members  of  the  body.  Both  the  Emperor  and  John  were 
present.  The  professed  objects  of  this  famous  Council 
were,  the  extinction  of  the  schism,  and  the  reformation 
of  the  Church,  or  the  con-ection  of  those  manifold  abuses 
which  existed  in  the  management  of  ecclesiastical  rev* 


III 


(  i 


i  , 


1273-1520.] 


COUNCIL   OF   CONSTANCE. 


175 


cnues.  Here  it  was  determined,  after  some  debate,  that 
a  General  Coimcil  could  compel  the  Pope  to  abdicate, 
and  the  method  of  cession  was  moreover  declared  to  be 
the  only  means  of  securing  the  peace  of  the  Church. 
Accordingly,  on  the  2nd  of  March  1415,  John  publicly 
pronounced  his  abdication,  on  condition  of  a  similar  pro- 
ceeding on  the  part  of  Benedict  and  Gregory.  Suspi- 
cions, however,  having  been  manifested  by  the  Council 
with  regard  to  the  sincerity  of  the  Pontiff  in  these  trans- 
actions, the  latter  planned  his  escape  from  Constance, 
and  fled  first  to  Schaff hausen,  afterwards  to  Brissac,  and 
at  length  to  Fribourg,  where  he  expected  to  receive  the 
protection  of  the  Duke  of  Austria,  but  was  treacherously 
delivered  into  the  power  of  the  Emperor  and  the  Council. 
A  series  of  enormous  crimes  being  now  laid  to  his  charge, 
John  was  solemnly  deposed  from  the  Pontificate  (May 
29,  1415),  and  condemned  to  rigorous  imprisonment, 
which  he  suffered,  first  at  Heidelberg  and  afterwards  at 
Manheim,  for  the  period  of  three  years.  In  the  course 
of  the  same  year  Gregory  sent  to  the  Council  a  voluntary 
and  solemn  resignation  of  his  dignity.  Benedict,  how- 
ever, remained  inflexible,  declaring  that  he  was  the  true, 
and  now  the  only  Pope.  Sigismund  went  in  person  to 
Perpignan  with  a  view  to  obtain  his  resignation;  but 
Benedict  obstinately  resisted  all  solicitations,  and  ulti- 
mately withdrew,  for  the  security  of  his  person,  to  the 
small  fortress  of  Paniscola.  The  Council,  fully  convinced 
of  his  contumacy,  proceeded  to  the  sentence  of  deposition ; 
and  although  Benedict  continued  to  anathematise  his 
adversaries  daily  in  his  obscure  place  of  refuge,  he  had 
ceased  to  be  a  means  of  dividing  the  obedience  of  the 
Church.  The  claims  of  the  late  competitors  having  been 
thus  entirely  destroyed,  the  Cardinals  proceeded  to  the 
election  of  a  new  Pope,  and  agreed  in  the  choice  of  Otto 
de  Colonna,  a  Roman,  who  ascended  the  Papal  Chair 
under  the  name  of  Martin  V.  And  thus  the  primary 
object  of  the  Council,  the  healing  of  the  Great  Schism, 
which  had  long  been  productive  of  such  numerous  dis- 
orders, was  successfully  accomplished.     Gregory  XII.  died 


176 


HISTORY    OP  GERMANY. 


[period  V. 


soon  after  his  cession.  John  XXIII.,  restored  to  liberty 
about  three  years  after  his  deposition,  was  solicited  by  some 
of  his  friends  to  resume  the  Papal  dignity,  but  instead  of 
complying  with  their  advice,  he  voluntarily  threw  himself 
at  the  feet  of  Martin,  who  received  his  submission.  And 
thus  the  Great  Western  Schism  was  completely  at  an  end. 

John  Huss  and  Jerome  of  Prague  (1416). — The 
spii'itual  business  of  the  Council  of  Constance  was  no 
less  important  than  its  temporal.  John  Huss,  a  disciple 
of  Wickliff,  and  professor  in  the  new  university  of  Prague, 
founded  by  Charles  IV.,  was  tried  for  heresy,  in  opposing 
the  hierarchy,  and  satirising  the  immoralities  of  the  popes 
and  bishops.*  He  did  not  deny  the  charge;  and  refusing 
to  confess  his  errors,  was  burnt  alive,  though  he  had  a 
safe  conduct  from  the  Emperor  to  appear  at  the  Council. 
But  the  principle  on  which  the  Council  acted  was  not 
concealed :  it  was  indeed  openly  avowed,  that,  in  certain 
cases,  faith  was  not  to  be  kept  with  heretics.  A  similar 
fate  was  the  portion  of  his  friend  and  disciple,  Jerome  of 
Prague,  who  displayed  at  his  execution  the  eloquence  of 
an  apostle,  and  the  constancy  of  a  martyr.  Sigismund 
felt  the  consequences  of  these  horrible  proceedings;  for 
the  Bohemians,  justly  exasperated  at  the  treacherous 
execution  of  their  countrymen,  opposed  his  succession  to 
their  crown,  vacant  by  the  death  of  his  deceased  brother 
Wenceslaus,  and  it  cost  him  a  war  of  sLxteen  years  to 
attain  it. 

Whatever  was  the  imperial  power  at  this  time,  it 
derived  but  small  consequence  from  its  actual  revenues. 
The  wealth  of  the  Germanic  states  was  exclusively  pos- 
sessed by  their  separate  sovereigns,  and  the  Emperor  had 
little  more  than  what  he  drew  from  Bohemia  and  Hun- 
gary. The  sovereignty  of  Italy  was  an  empty  title.  The 
interest  of  the  Emperor  in  that  country  furnished  only  a 
source  of  faction  to  its  princes,  and  embroiled  the  states 
in  perpetual  quarrels. 

War  of  the  Hussites— Death  of  Wenceslaus  (1418). — 

The  execution  of  Huss,  with  all  its  circumstances  of 
cruelty  and  falsehood,  had  been  regarded  by  the  Bohq- 


1273-1520.] 


ACCESSION   OF   SIGISMUND. 


177 


|i 


mians  as  a  national  insult,  which  called  aloud  for  signal 
and  adequate  retribution.  When  the  ashes  of  the  martyr 
were  thrown  into  the  Rhine,  the  rulers  of  the  Church 
believed  that  his  name  had  perished  with  his  body.  But 
the  people  thought  far  otherwise.  James  Hussinitz,  a 
nobleman  residing  in  the  village  where  Huss  was  born, 
determined  to  avenge  his  death,  and  to  maintain  his  doc- 
trines. Wenceslaus,  finding  himself  wholly  unable  to 
resist  the  storm  of  popular  indignation,  withdrew  from 
Prague,  which  soon  fell  entirely  into  the  hands  of  the 
malcontents.  Under  the  command  of  the  leaders  of  the 
new  doctrines,  they  proceeded  to  yet  more  violent  extre- 
mities. To  revenge  some  slight  offence  which  had  been 
offered  to  them  in  one  of  their  religious  processions,  they 
buret  into  the  coimcil  chamber  at  Prague,  and  seizing 
thirteen  of  the  principal  magistrates,  flung  them  from  the 
windows  upon  the  pikes  of  their  associates.  The  intelli- 
gence of  this  outrage  roused  Wenceslaus  to  so  violent  a 
paroxysm  of  fury,  that  it  occasioned  an  apopletic  fit  which 
put  an  end  to  his  existence. 

Sigismund  succeeds  to  the  Crown  of  Bohemia  (1419). 

— The  accession  of  Sigismund,  who,  notwithstanding  a 
letter  addressed  to  the  Bohemians  in  vindication  of  his 
conduct,  was  universally  considered  as  the  cause  of  Huss's 
execution,  and  a  promulgation  of  a  decree  of  the  Council 
of  Constance  containing  a  most  unqualified  denunciation 
of  their  sect,  wrought  the  passions  of  the  Hussites  to  a 
yet  higher  state  of  exasperation.  They  refused  to  recog- 
nise Sigismund  as  King,  whereupon  the  Hussite  civil  war 
broke  out.  They  were  divided  into  two -parties,  the  more 
moderate  Calixtines  and  the  more  rigid  Tabprites.-  Ziska, 
the  leader  of  the  latter  party,  a  man  of  extraordinary 
powers,  assembled  them  on  Mount  Tabor,  captured  Prague, 
pillaged  and  burnt  the  monasteries,  and  in  several  engage- 
ments defeated  Sigismund.  After  the  death  of  Ziska 
(1424),  his  place  was  filled  by  a  monk  named  Procopius, 
who  defeated  the  mercenaries  sent  under  the  name  of 
Crusaders  by  the  Emperor  and  the  Papal  legates  in  the 
battles  of  Mies  (1427)  and  Tachau  (1431),  and  whose 


178 


HISTORY  OF   GERMANY.  [PERIOD  V. 


1273-1520.] 


COUNCIL  OP  CONSTANCE* 


170 


troops  ravaged  Austria,  Franconia,  Saxony,  Catholic 
Bohemia,  Lusatia,  and  Silesia.  A  council  held  at  Basle 
in  1433  made  concessions  which  were  accepted  by  the 
Calixtines.  The  Taborites,  rejecting  the  compromise, 
were  vanquished  in  the  battle  of  Prague  (1434),  and  by 
the  treaty  of  Iglau  (1436),  the  compromise  of  ]3asle  was 
accepted  by  Bohemia,  and  Sigismund  recognised  as  King. 


•'c'S^X'^ 


BASLE. 


The  Emperor  having  committed  to  the  Council  of  Basle 
the  task  of  carrying  on  negotiations,  had  withdrawn  to 
Eome  on  pretext  of  being  crowned  l)y  the  new  Pope, 
Eugenius  TV.  The  coimcil  led  by  the  spiritual  and  tem- 
poral lords,  who  were  fully  aware  of  the  importance  of 
the  cause  at  stake,  shared  the  Emperor's  opinion,  and 
were,  consequently,  fav  more  inclined  to  make  concession 
than  was  the  Pope,  who  refused  to  yield  to  any  terms, 
preferring  to  throw  the  onus  of  the  peace  on  otliera.  The 
council  therefore  acted  without  reference  to  tl)e  Pontiff, 


( 


who  in  the  meantime  amused  himself  with  solemnising  a 
farcical  coronation  of  the  Emperor  at  Pvome.  Sigismmid 
remained,  during  the  sitting  of  the  Council,  in  Italy, 
engaged  in  love  affairs,  althougli  already  sixty-three  years 
of  age.  After  openly  procrastinating  the  ceremony,  the 
Pope  at  length  gave  full  vent  to  his  displeasure  (1433),  by 
causing  the  crown  to  be  placed  awry  on  Sigismund's  head 
by  another  ecclesiastic,  and  then  pushing  it  straight  with 
his  foot  as  the  Emperor  knelt  before  him. 

Close  of  the  Council  of  Constance  (1437).— After  long 

and  tedious  conferences  the  Council  conceded  to  the 
Bohemian  laity  the  use  of  the  cup  in  the  communion, 
and  Sigismund  on  his  side  agreed  that  the  Hussite  priests 
should  be  tolerated,  even  at  court;  that  no  more  monas- 
teries should  be  built;  that  the  university  of  Prague 
should  be  reinstated  in  all  its  former  privileges;  and  a 
general  amnesty  granted  for  all  past  disturbances.  Thus 
peace  was  concluded  in  1437.  Bohemia,  however,  remained 
still  in  a  feverish  state  until  about  a  century  after,  when 
the  reform  of  Luther  revived  old  feelings  and  antipathies, 
of  which  the  Thirty  Years'  War  that,  another  century 
later,  desolated  all  Germany,  may  be  said  to  have  been  the 
^pmote  consequence.  There  are  a  few  Hussites  now  in 
J  Johemia;  the  rest  have  merged  into  Caivinists,  Lutherans, 
JMoravians,  and  other  sects. 

The  German  nobility,  freed  from  their  fanatical  oppo- 
nents, turned  their  attention  liomewards,  and  resolved  to 
curb  the  violence  of  the  Emperor,  and  to  secure  the  main- 
tenance of  peace  by  a  system  of  moderation.  Sigismund 
was  now  old,  and  his  son-in-law,  Albert  of  Hapsburg,  pur- 
sued an  uncompromising  policy.  They  therefore  conspired 
with  Rokizana,  Archbishop  of  Prague,  and  the  Empress 
Barbara,  to  proclaim  Wladislaw  of  Poland  successor  to 
the  throne.  Sigismund,  on  learning  their  intentions,  per- 
ceived the  false  step  he  had  taken,  again  made  concessions, 
and,  suddenly  entering  Moravia,  seized  the  person  of  the 
faithless  Empress,  the  IMessalina  of  her  age.  He  shortly 
afterwards  expired  at  Znaim,  sitting  in  state  "as  lord  of 
the  world,"  as  he  vain-gloriously  boasted  (1437),  in  tho 


180 


HISTORY   OP   GERMANY.  [PERIOD  V. 


twenty-eiglitli  year  of  his  reign,  and  the  seventieth  of 
his  life. 

Albert  II.  of  Austria—Frederick  III.  (1438-1493).— 
Albert  of  Austria,  son-in-law  of  the  late  Emperor,  was, 
after  a  short  interval,  elevated  by  the  unanimous  sutiVages 
of  the  electors  to  the  vacant  throne  of  the  empire; 
Frederick  of  Bmndenburg,  his  only  opponent  was  easily 
persuaded  to  resign  his  pretensions  in  favour  of  so  illus- 
trious a  competitor.  Fifth  in  descent,  and  fourth  in 
succession  from  tbat  Albert  who  fell  a  victim  to  domestic 
treachery  in  the  early  part  of  the  fourteenth  century,  the 
newly-created  head  of  the  Germanic  Confederation  com- 
bined every  quality  best  calculated  to  win  the  affection 
and  command  the  obedience  of  the  turbulent  vassals  with 
whose  government  he  had  been  entrusted.  So  little, 
however,  did  he  aspire  to  the  magnificent  title  which  it 
was  now  proposed  to  confer  upon  him,  and  so  reluctant 
was  he  to  entangle  himself  in  the  maze  of  German  politics, 
that  on  assuming  the  government  of  Hungary,  he  had 
pledged  himself,  in  the  event  of  his  election,  to  reject  the 
nominal  supremacy  of  the  empire,  and  to  devote  his  care 
entirely  to  the  administration  of  those  vast  districts  which 
had  already  fallen  under  his  control. 

Frederick  of  the  Empty  Pocket,  and  the  Revolt  of 

the  Swiss. — From  the  period  of  the  battle  of  Miilildorf 
in  1322,  when  Frederick  the  Fair  of  Austria  was  over- 
thrown, until  the  election  of  Albert  II.,  the  House  of 
Hapsburg  remained  excluded  from  the  imperial  throne, 
and  were  chiefly  occupied  with  the  affairs  of  their  Austrian 
dominions.  At  the  beginning  of  the  fifteenth  century 
we  find  these  possessions,  which  were  now  considembly 
enlarged,  shared  by  three  members  of  the  family,  of  whom 
one,  called  from  his  poverty,  Frederick  of  the  Empty 
Pockety  held  the  Tyrol  and  the  ancient  territories  of  the 
house  in  Switzerland  and  in  Suabia.  Frederick  having, 
in  1415,  assisted  the  escape  of  John  XXIII.  from  Con- 
stiince,  was  excommunicated  by  the  Council  then  sitting 
in  that  town,  and  was  also  placed  under  the  imperial  ban 
by  the  Emperor  Sigismund.    Frederick's  possessions  were 


1273-1520.] 


DIVISIONS   l^  THE   EMPIRE. 


181 


now  at  the  mercy  of  those  who  could  seize  them,  and  in 
a  few  days  400  towns  declared  against  him.  In  this 
general  revolt,  the  Swiss,  with  the  exception  of  the  miners 
of  Uri,  were  especially  active :  they  seized  the  territories 
so  liberally  bestowed  upon  them  by  the  Council;  and  it  was 
now  that  Hapsburg,  the  cradle  and  hereditary  castle  of  the 
family,  was  laid  in  ruins,  as  it  has  continued  ever  since. 

Albert  II.  would  doubtless  have  done  much  for  the 
welfare  of  Germany,  had  not  death  unhappily  surprised 
him  after  a  brief  reign  of  scarcely  two  years,  on  his  return 
from  an  expedition  against  the  Turks  in  Hungary.  From 
his  time,  the  imperial  crown  was  transmitted  in  the 
House  of  Austria  almost  as  if  it  had  been  an  hereditary 
possession ;  and  we  shall  see  the  descendants  of  E,odolf 
attaining  to  a  power  and  pre-eminence  which  threatened 
to  overshadow  the  liberties  of  Europe. 

Frederick  III.  (1440-1493).  —  After  the  death  of 
Albert,  the  Germans  elected  for  their  Emperor  Frederick 
III.,  the  elder  son  of  Ernest,  surnamed  the  Iron,  brother 
to  Frederick  with  the  Empty  Pockety  and  who  possessed 
Styria,  Carinthia,  Istria,  and  other  provinces.  Frederick 
III.  was  a  well-intentioned  prince,  although  too  pacific 
and  too  indolent  to  reign  over  the  empire  at  a  time  when 
the  affairs  both  of  church  and  state  required  a  vigorous 
and  steady  hand.  Little  was  known  of  him,  save  that 
he  had  once  made  a  pilgi-image  to  the  Holy  Sepulchre, 
and  wandered  among  the  mountains  of  Palestine.  Being, 
Iiowever,  the  eldest  representative  of  the  mighty  House  of 
Hapsburg,  it  was  deemed  expedient  to  elect  him  Emperor. 
A  short  time  was  sufficient  to  show  how  injudicious  the 
choice  had  been.  Frederick  III.  ruled  Germany,  if  such 
an  expression  can  be  applied  to  his  weak  and  miserable 
reign,  till  1493;  and  his  long  sway  added  not  a  single 
remarkable  or  glorious  action  to  the  annals  of  Germany. 
Frederick  was  crowned  King  of  the  Romans  at  Aix-la- 
Chapelle  in  1442. 

Divisions  in  the  Empire. — In  144G,  the  people  of 
Zurich  renounced  the  impei'ial  alliance,  and  joined  the 
confederacy  of  three  forest  cantons,  which  had  made  itself 


182 


ttlStORY   OF   GERMANY. 


[period  V. 


res]>ectecl  by  all  its  neigliboiirs.  In  Ilungaiy,  the  young 
Ladislaus,  son  of  tlie  late  Emperor,  had  been  crowned  by 
the  German  party;  but  a  threatened  invasion  of  tho 
Turks,  rendering  it  necessary  to  have  a  man  of  action  at 
the  head  of  the  government,  the  j^eople  chose  Ladislaus 
of  Poland,  who  was  conquered  and  slain  by  tlic  Turks  at 
Yarna,  soon  after  his  election.  In  Bohemia,  the  German 
Ladislaus  was  luiiversally  recognised  as  King,  but  tho 
powers  of  government  wxre  exercised  by  the  heads  of  two 
factions,  Meinhard  and  Ptaczek.  After  the  death  of  the 
latter,  George  of  Podiebrad,  a  brave  warrior,  became 
leader  of  the  more  popular  party,  surprised  Prague, 
threw  his  rival  into  prison,  and  was  made  sole  regent. 
In  Austria,  one  Sitzinger,  a  Bavarian,  exercised  unlimited 
influence  over  the  states :  thus  in  each  of  the  hereditary 
dominions  of  the  Emperor  and  his  young  ward,  Ladis- 
laus, the  people  were  ruled  with  an  absolute  authority 
by  a  power  almost  independent  of  the  indolent  Frederick 
and  his  cousin. 

The  last  Coronation  performed  at  Rome. —In  1151, 

Frederick  repaired  to  Rome  t«  receive  the  imperial  crowL 
from  the  hands  of  the  Tope.  Nicholas  V.,  who  then  filled 
the  Papal  chair,  received  him  witli  great  magnificence; 
but  it  was  observed  that  the  Emperor,  till  after  his 
coronation,  yielded  precedence  to  the  Cardinals.  Accord- 
ing to  the  strict  order  of  this  ceremony,  it  was  necessary 
that  Frederick  should  first  receive  the  iron  crown  of 
Lombardy,  w^liich  it  w\as  the  privilege  of  the  Archbishop 
of  Milan  to  bestow;  but  Frederick  having,  for  some 
reason,  declined  to  enter  that  city,  the  Pope,  with  his 
own  hands,  crowned  him  King  of  Loml)ardy,  though 
with  a  reservation  of  the  rights  of  the  Archbishop.  On 
tlie  same  day  (March  15),  Nicholas  married  Frederick  to 
Eleanor,  the  beautiful  daughter  of  tho  King  of  Portugal, 
who  had  niet  him  at  Sienna,  and  three  days  afterwards 
received  the  imperial  crown.  This  coronation  is  memor- 
able as  the  last  performed  at  Home,  and  the  last  but  ono 
in  which  the  services  of  the  Poj^e  were  ever  required.* 
*  Charles  V.  was  crowned  by  tho  Pope  at  Bolof-jix 


•i 


i\ 


)< 


I  I 

II 


1273-1520.]   FREDERICK   ACKNOWLEDGES    PODIEBRAD.        l83 

After  the  ceremony,  Frederick  set  off  for  Naples  with  his 
consort,  to  visit  King  Ali)honso,  uncle  of  his  Empress, 
Avhere  the  marriage  was  celebrated  with  great  pom]),  tlie 
fountains  of  the  city  being  made  to  run  with  wdne,  and 
tables  were  spread  for  tho  entertainment  of  30,000  guests. 
Destruction  of  the  Byzantine  Empire  by  Mahomet 

II.  (1453). — At  the  time  of  this  vain  ceremonial,  measures 
WQVQ  concerted  for  a  crusade  against  the  Turks;  but 
the  spirit  which  precipitated  Europe  upon  Asia  was  no 
more,  and  the  descendants  of  those  who  had  rescued  the 
Holy  Se[>ulchre  from  the  power  of  the  infidels  w^ere  con- 
tent to  remain  passive  spectators  of  the  entire  destruction 
of  the  Byzantine  emi)ire. 

The  inactivity  and  negligence  of  Frederick,  who  knew 
neither  how  to  yield  nor  how  to  withstand,  involved  him 
daily  in  fresh  ditKculties,  and  exposed  him  to  innumerable 
mortifications.  In  consequence  of  the  calamities  which 
his  npathy  had  occasioned,  and  of  the  insults  for  which 
it  behoved  him  to  seek  I'cdress,  the  electors  had  already 
begun  to  deliberate  on  the  expediency  of  deposing  him. 
To  comi>lete  his  embarrassment,  Ladislaus,  the  son  of 
Albert,  died,  leaving  his  hereditary  dominions  exposed  to 
ilie  dreadful  evils  arising  from  intestine  strife  and  civil 
disorganization. 

Some  historians  have  represented  this  prince  as  an 
accomplished  and  virtuous  ruler,  but  the  execution  of 
Corvinus,  brother  of  the  patriotic  warrior,  John  Han- 
niades,  leaves  a  blot  on  his  character  which  years  of 
beneficent  government  could  hardly  wipe  away.  Matthias 
Corvinus,  the  son  of  Ilunniades,  was  now  raised  by  a 
grateful  people  to  the  throne  w^hich  his  father  had  i)rc- 
served;  and  although  the  defection  of  a  few  nobles 
enabled  Frederick  to  gain  possession  of  the  Hungarian 
crown  and  jev/els,  the  former  continued  till  his  death  to 
enjoy  the  substantial  privileges,  and  to  exercise  the  real 
functions  of  a  legitimate  sovereign. 

Frederick  acknowledges  Podiebrad,  King  of  Bohemia 
(1459). — Bohemia,  inflamed  by  a  similar  spirit  of  dis- 
affection, disregarding  the  claim  of  Frederick  and  his 


184 


filSTOnV   OF   GERMANY.  [PERIOD  V. 


descendants,  elected  their  Lravo  leader,  George  of  Podie- 
brad  for  its  ruler,  whom  the  Emperor  was  compelled  to 
acknowledge.  A  third  war  with  his  brother  Albert, 
who,  after  wresting  from  his  feeble  grasp  a  part  of 
Austria,  aspired  to  the  conquest  of  the  whole,  was 
equally  disastrous  to  his  reputation.  He  was  besieged 
in  the  fortress  of  Vienna;  and,  but  for  the  politic  advice 
of  Podiebrad,  would  have  been  captured,  and  made  to 
sign  worse  terms  than  the  cession  of  his  hereditary  states. 
By  Podiebrad's  influence  a  reconciliation  was  efiected; 
Albert  was  allowed  to  retain,  during  eight  years,  the 
government  of  Lower  Austria,  under  the  condition  of  an 
annual  tribute  of  4000  ducats.  But  the  humiliations 
which  he  was  doomed  to  support  from  his  brother  ended 
in  1463,  by  the  death  of  Albert,  who,  had  his  life  been 
protracted,  would  entirely  have  conquered  the  whole  of 
the  Austrian  states. 

Imbecility  of  Frederick  III. — If  these  contentions 
were  thus  hushed  for  a  moment,  the  imbecility  of  the 
Emperor  was  apparent  to  every  one.  New  wars  broke 
out  under  his  very  eyes;  wars  which  he  had  neither  the 
ability  nor  the  inclination  to  repress.  That  there  should 
be  a  loud  outcry  against  him,  and  that  the  project  of 
dethroning  him  to  make  way  for  Podiebrad  should  be 
resumed,  need  not  surprise  us.  When  the  Empress  was 
informed  of  certain  of  his  concessions,  she  exclaimed, 
turning  to  her  son  Maximilian,  *'  If,  my  son,  I  could 
trace  in  you  any  symptoms  of  your  father's  pusillanimity, 
I  should  lament  the  fortune  that  destines  you  a  throne." 
Frederick,  however,  had  some  address;  and  he  had  the 
wisdom  to  maintain  a  friendly  intercourse  with  every 
succeeding  Pope.  Now  he  stirred  up  a  war  between 
Podiebrad  and  Matthias  of  Hungary ;  now  he  prevailed 
on  the  Pope  to  preach  a  crusade  against  the  Bohemian 
King,  as  the  acknowledged  head  of  the  Hussites.  But 
Germany  would  not  move  even  to  resist  the  progress  of 
the  Turks  under  Mahomet  II.,  much  less  to  dethrone  an 
elector  who  had  won  the  respect  of  the  empire.  If 
Frederick  himself  wished  the  destruction  of  his  vassals, 


1273-1520.]  BETROTUAL  OF   MAXIMILIAN.  185 

he  had  certainly  no  great  antipathy  to  the  infidels.  They 
furnished  employment  to  one  whom  he  hated,  the  King 
of  Hungary;  and  though  detached  bodies  of  these  bar- 
barians "penetrated  twelve  times  into  his  hereditary 
dominions,  though  they  massacred  thousands,  and  led 
thousands  captive  from  Carinthia  and  Styria,  he  did  not 
oppose  them  in  the  field.  In  the  language  of  a  contem- 
porary chronicler,  "  He  was  more  anxious  to  shield  his 
cabbages  from  the  frost,  than  his  people  from  the  bar- 
barians." That  he  should  be  regarded  with  contempt 
was  the  righteous  meed  he  deserved. 

Death  of  Podiebrad,  King  of  Bohemia  (U71).— The 
death  of  Podiebrad  freed  Frederick  from  one  dangerous 
rival;  but  it  did  not  open  his  way  to  the  Bohemian 
throne.  In  conformity  with  the  wishes  of  the  deceased 
monarch,  the  States  elected  Ladislaus,  son  of  Casimir, 
King  of  Poland ;  and  though  Frederick  stormed,  he  was 
compelled  to  recognise  the  new  potentate. 

Betrothal  of  Maximilian  and  Mary  of  Burgundy.— 

But  if  Frederick  was  thus  unfortunate   in  his   under- 
taking's, one  of  his  efibrts  for  the  aggrandisement  of  his 
house°was  more  successful,  though,  in  its  consequences, 
it  proved  most  disastrous  to  his  posterity,  to  France,  and 
to  Europe.     During  the  life  of  Charles  the  Rash,  Duke 
of  Bur<^undy,  Frederick  negotiated  a  marriage  between 
his  son° Maximilian  and  Mary,  daughter  and  heiress  of 
that  prince.     With  his  accustomed  fatality,  indeed,  he 
turned  one  whom  he  had  chosen  for  the  father-in-law  of 
his  son  into  an  implacable  enemy,  and  had  brought  the 
troops  of  Burgundy  into  the  Rhenish  provinces;  but, 
after  the  death  of  Charles,  he  renewed  the  negotiations 
with  the  princess  herself.     Policy,  the  interest  of  the 
Netherlands,   and   even   of  Europe,   required   that   she 
should  be  married  to  the  Dauphin  of  France,  for  wlioni 
her  hand  was  sought  by  the  crafty  Louis  XI.;  but  tbe 
Dauphin  was  yet  a  child,  and  Mary  was  a  woman,  already 
favourably    disposed    towards    Maximilian.      Contrary, 
therefore,  to  the  advice  of  her  ministers,  she  received, 
with  evident  pleasure,  the  ambassadors  of  the  Emperor; 


186 


HISTORY   OF   GERMANY.  [pERIOD  V. 


1273-1520.] 


HOSTILITY   OF   FRANCE. 


187 


she  was  even  marriccl  by  proxy;  and,  on  this  occiision, 
the  nobleman  who  represented  Maximilian  lay  down  by 
her  side,  but  armed  at  all  points,  with  a  sword  between 
him  and  the  princess,  and  in  presence  of  numerous 
witnesses.  The  issue  of  this  marriage  was  Philip,  who 
became  the  husband  of  Juanna,  the  heiress  of  Castile,  and 
father  of  the  Emperor  Charles  V.  Hence  the  rivalry 
between  France  and  Spain,  between  France  and  the 
Empire,  which  raged  with  fury  down  to  the  18th  century. 
Nor  was  this  the  only  evil;  for  the  Flemish  were  always 
a  disaffected  people — always  fond  of  revolution;  and  to 
maintain  them  in  obedience  required  more  trouble,  and 
occasioned  more  expense  than  the  provinces  were  actually 
worth. 

Death  of  Frederick  III.  (1493).— The  termination  of 
Frederick's  protracted  and  inglorious  reign  of  fifty-three 
years  was  now  approaching;  he  expired  in  1493,  and 
may  be  compared  in  many  respects  to  our  English  Henjy 
III.,  to  whom  his  character  certainlv  bears  a  stronsf 
resemblance.  Pusillanimous,  feeble,  and  vacillating,  his 
infirmity  of  purpose  and  superstitious  regard  for  the 
authority  of  the  Pope,  in  an  age  when  the  respect  for 
l)apal  authority  was  every  day  declining,  exposed  him  to 
the  charge  of  weakness  and  inconsistency ;  an  exile  from 
his  hereditary  dominions,  unable  to  control  his  turbulent 
vassals,  apparently  dependent  for  his  daily  maintenance 
on  the  town  of  the  em2)ire  in  which  he  fixed  his  residence, 
under  his  rule  the  im2)erial  authority  seems  to  have  ebbed 
to  the  very  lowest  point  of  degradation  and  contempt. 
But,  on  the  other  hand,  he  was  faithful  to  his  word, 
skilful  in  his  negotiations,  well  acquainted  with  human 
character,  temperate  in  his  habits,  and  unsullied  in  his 
morals;  and  great  as  was  his  indolence,  his  enemies 
cannot  deny  that  some  good  was  effected  during  his  reign. 
By  securing  the  crown  in  his  own  fiimily,  and  by  the 
vast  sums  of  money  which  he  contrived  to  accumulate, 
he  placed  the  means  of  aggrandisement  in  the  hands  of 
his  posterity;  and  although  the  improvidence  of  Maxi- 
milian rendered  them  for  some  time  unavailing,  yet  were 


i 


r, 


they  grasped  with  firmness,  and  wielded  with  terrific 
energy  by  his  successors. 

Maximilian  1.  (1403-1519).~On  the  death  of  his 
father,  Maximilian  had  been  seven  years  King  of  the 
Bomans;  and  his  accession  to  the  imperial  crown  en- 
countered no  opposition.  The  time  was  departed  when 
a  king,  elected  during  the  life-time  of  a  reigning  emperor, 
could  be  set  aside  by  a  factious  elector.  In  reality,  a 
much  gi'eatcr  change  was  effected  in  the  disposition  of 
the  German  mind.  All  men  felt  that  the  order  of  succes- 
sion should  be  placed  on  a  less  precarious  footing;  that, 
though  the  constitution  still  demanded  the  exercise  of 
the  elective  right,  there  must  be  an  approximation  to 
hereditary  principles  in  the  sovereignty;  that,  if  any 
family  were  thus  to  be  favoured,  none  could  produce  so 
good  a  claim  as  the  House,  of  Austria.  Omitting  all 
considerations  of  gmtitude;  of  the  splendour  which 
Bodolph,  its  restorer,  had  conferred  on  the  empire;  of 
the  services  performed  by  that  house  in  behalf  of  the 
common  body, — policy  showed  that  the  crown  should 
remain  where  it  was,  because  it  had  been  already  w^orn 
by  two  members  of  that  family,  and  the  hereditary 
principle,  so  much  desired  by  all  patriots,  was  in  action; 
but  chiefly  because  no  other  house  was  so  able  or  so  likely 
to  preserve  the  iionour,  the  inde])endence,  we  might  add, 
the  existence  of  the  empire.  No  other  had  sncli  extent 
of  territory ;  no  other  w\as  so  2)owerfiil :  not  Austria  only, 
and  the  extensive  provinces  to  the  south,  were  dependent 
on  it,  but  it  had  claims  on  Bohemia  and  Hungary. 

Hostility  of  France  to  the  Empire— Marriage  of 
Maximilian  and  Mary  of  Burgundy.— On  the  death  of 
Frederick,  Germany  felt  its  situation  changed.  France, 
instead  of  comi)rising,  as  formerly,  a  number  of  petty 
states,  scarcely  dependent  on  their  feudal  head,  was  now 
one  compact  monarchy.  She  had  expelled  the  English 
from  all  but  the  insignificant  territory  in  the  vicinity  of 
Calais;  and  she  had  successfully  incoi-poratid  Provence, 
Dauphiny,  Burgundy,  and  Brittany  with  the  other  pro- 
vinces.     Though   France  and  the  empire  were  always 


188 


HISTORY  OF  GERMANY. 


Fperiod  V. 


hostile  by  circumstances ;  though  each  had  claims  to  the 
fine  regions  extending  from  the  Moselle  to  the  Mediter- 
ranean, the  one  through  weakness,  the  other  through 
indifference,  had  abstained  from  war.  The  marriage  of 
Maximilian  with  the  heiress  of  Burgundy  brought  the 
two  into  direct  collision.  Louis  XI.,  who  had  seized  the 
other  possessions  of  Charles  the  Bold,  Mary's  father, 
aspired  to  the  Netherlands  also.  That  beautiful  heiress, 
anxious  alike  to  escape  the  merciless  grasp  of  that  royal 
monster  and  the  rule  of  the  wild  democracy  of  Ghent,  at 
first  endeavoured  to  conciliate  the  Dutch  by  the  promul- 
gation of  a  great  charter,  but  fruitlessly.  In  the  hope 
of  gaining  a  greater  accession  of  power  by  a  foreign 
marriage,  she  skilfully  worked  upon  the  dread  with 
which  the  French  were  viewed  by  her  subjects,  to 
influence  them  in  favour  of  Maximilian,  the  handsomest 
youth  of  his  day,  whom  she  is  said  to  have  seen  at 
an  earlier  period  at  Treves,  or,  as  some  say,  of  whose 
picture  she  had  become  enamoured.  Mary,  as  we  have 
already  said,  was  married  by  proxy  to  the  Archduke 
Maximilian,  in  the  lifetime  of  Frederick  III.  Maxi- 
milian who  inherited  the  physical  strength  of  his  grand- 
mother, Cimburga  of  Poland,  and  the  mental  qualities  of 
his  Portuguese  mother,  surpassed  all  other  knights  in 
chivalric  feats,  was  modest,  gentle,  and  amiable.  Mary 
confessed  to  the  assembled  states  of  the  Netherlands,  that 
she  had  already  interchanged  letters  and  rings  with 
him,  and  the  marriage  was  resolved  upon.  Maximilian 
hastened  to  Ghent,  and,  mounted  on  a  brown  steed, 
clothed  in  silver-gilt  armour,  his  long  fair  locks  crowned 
with  a  bridegroom's  wreath,  resplendent  with  pearls  and 
precious  stones,  rode  into  the  city,  where  he  was  met  by 
Mary.  The  youthful  pair,  on  beholding  one  another, 
knelt  in  the  public  street  and  sank  into  each  other's  arms. 
"  Welcome  art  thou  to  me,  thou  noble  German,"  said  the 
young  duchess,  '*  whom  I  have  so  long  desired,  and  now 
behold  with  delight." 

Amongst  those  princely  marriages  which  history  sig- 
nalises on  account  of  the  gi^eatness  of  their  coiiscc|uences, 


1273-1520.]     MARRIAGE   OF   ANNE   OF   BRITTANY.  189 

fi<rures  in  the  first  rank  that  of  Maximilian  of  Austria  and 
Mary  of  Burgundy.  Their  son,  Philip  tl^  Fair,  married 
the  heiress  of  Castile  and  Aragon;  thus  the  Spanish 
Bur^rundian,  and  Austrian  possessions  were  found  united 
in  one  single  hand;  whence  arose  the  monstrous  power 
of  Charles  V.,  the  struggle  of  France,  the  struggle  of 
Europe  against  the  House  of  Austria.     ^ 

Death  Of  Mary  of  Burgundy.-This  event  gi^eatly 
enraged  the  French  monarch,  who  at  length  succeeded 
in  persuading  the  Swiss  to  enter  into  alliance  ^vfi  him, 
and  to  cede  to  him  the  county  of  Burgundy;  but  Maxi- 
milian  speedily   deprived  him  of  the  territory  he  had 
seized  in  the  Netherlands.     Mary  did  not  long  survive 
hei  marriage  with  Maximilian.     Besides  her  hrstborn, 
Philip,  Ma?y  had  given  birth  to  a  daughter,  Margaret, 
and  was  again  pregnant,  when  she  was    wl-lf  ^"^j^*- 
incr  thrown  from  her  horse,  and  dangerously  hurt  by  the 
stump  of  a  tree,  against  which  she  was  squeezed  by  her 
Lien  horse.     From  a  false  feeling  of  delicacy,  she  con- 
cealed her  state  until  surgical  aid  ^^as  uuc^ ailmg,  and 
expired  in  the  bloom  of  life  (1482).     The  death  of  the 
beiuteous  duchess  was  a  signal  for  general  revolt,  and 
Maximilian,  perceiving  his  inability  to  make  head  both 
fSst  France  and  his  rebellious  subjects,  concluded  i^ie 
veace  of  Arras  with  the  former,  and  promised  his  daughter 
llargaret,  to  the  Dauphin,  with  Avtois    Bo.Uogii^^^^^^^^^^ 
the  countv  of  Burgundy  in  dowry  (1482).      Maigaiet 
was  sent  to  Paris.     Burgundy  and  the  Arelat  were  united 

*""  Anne'^of  Brittany  Married  by  proxy  to  Maximilian 

—Maximilian  next  endeavoured  to  obtain  the  hand  ot 
Anne  of  Brittany,  on  whom,  by  the  death  of  her  father 
tlie  government  of  that  isolated  and  uncivilised  district 
had  recently  devolved.  His  design  was  m  part  realised; 
her  marria4  with  Maximilian  was  celebrated  by  proxy, 
and  the^^hess  assumed  the  title  of  Qu^en  of  the  Romans ; 
but  this  magnificent  appellation  wassail  she  gained  J^^^^^^^ 
marriage.  Charles  VIII.  of  France,  to  .^^^^^J^^^^^^^^^^^^ 
of  Maximilian  had  been  betrothed  since  the  Peace   ot 


190 


IIISTOllY   OP   GERMANY. 


[period  V. 

Arras,   liaving   in  vain  attempted  to  conqncr  Brittany 
by  force,  now  began  to  change  liis  scheme  witli  regard 
to  the  subjection  of  that  province.     He  determined  to 
reannex  this  important  fief  to  the  crown  by  marria<:>o, 
and,  by  the  violation  of  a  doul)lo  contract,  to  prevent  the 
consummation  of  a  union  which  a])peared  destructive  to 
the  grandeur  aud  security  of  his  dominions.     IMaximilian, 
destitute  of  troops  and  money,  and  embarrassed  by  the 
continual  revolt  of  the  Flemings,  could  send  no  succour 
to  his  distressed  consort,  even  had  he  been  able  to  anti- 
cipate the  dissolution  of  engagements  apparently  so  advan- 
tageous, and  contracted  with  so  much  solemnity.     Charles, 
however,  advanced  with  a  i)owerful  army  and  invested 
Itennes,  at  that  time  the  residence  of  the  duchess,  who, 
assailed  on  all  sides,  and  deserted  by  her  adherents,  was 
at  last  comi)elled  to  open  the  gates  of  the  city,  and  to 
accept  the  French  King  as  her  husband. 
^^  Consequences   of  the  Rupture   of  the  Marriage.— 
This  unexpected   success  roused   Maximilian  to  a  par- 
oxysm of  indignation,  and  his  anger  was  embittered  by 
the  reflection  that  his  own  supine  apathy,  in  neglecting' 
to  render  the  tie  indissoluble  by  the  consummation  of  hit 
marriage,  had  exposed  him  to  this  sensible  mortification. 
Not  only  had  he  lost  a  considerable  territory,  which  he 
looked  upon  as  his  own,  and  an  amiable  princess,  whom 
lie  considered  as  his  wife,  but  those  injuries  were  yet 
further  enhanced   by  the  repudiation  of  his  daughtei-, 
Margaret,  who,  after  she  had  enjoyed  for  some  tinTe  the 
title  of  Queen  of  France,  was  sent  back  to  liim  in  the 
face  of  Europe  by  her  affianced  husband.     Incensed  by 
these  gi-oss  outrages,   he  vented  his   rage  in  the  most 
violent  expressions,  and  he  menaced   Charles  with  the 
vengeance  which  the  united  arms  of  Austria,  England, 
and  Aragon  were  ready  to  inflict;  but  his  threats' were 
not  supported  by  any  military  power  or  financial  resources 
He  petitioned,  indeed,  the  Diet  for  support;  but  thouc^h 
the  qualities  for  which  his  name  is  idolised  to  this  hour 
in  Germany,  rendered  him  the  darling  of  his  country,  he 
found  it  impossible  to  obtain  any  solid  assistance  from'the 


1273-1520.]         GERMANY,    FRANCE,    AND   ITALY. 


101 


i: 


.^, 


d 


tardy  and  irresolute  proceedings  of  that  body.  He  there- 
fore acce]:)ted  the  mediation  of  the  Swiss,  and  a  peace  was 
concluded  at  Senlis,  by  which  the  French  monarch  con- 
sented to  make  restitution  of  Artois,  Franche  Compte, 
and  Charolois,  wliich  had  been  ceded  to  France  as  the 
doMS-ry  of  his  daughter. 

Imprisonment  of  Maximilian  by  the  Flemings.— The 

jealousy  of  the  Flemings,  roused  by  the  invidious  prefer- 
ence which  Maximilian  exhibited  on  all  occasions  for  his 
German  followers,  broke  out  in  an  insurrection  at  Bruges, 
where  Maximilian  was  seized  and  detained  in  strict  con- 
finement until  the  empire,  under  the  command  of  Albert 
of  Saxony,  armed  for  the  defence  of  its  future  sovereign. 
So  great,  however,  was  the  imbecility  of  Maximilian  and 
the  independence  of  the  Flemings,  that  although  his 
liberation  was  ultimately  effected,  the  rebels  who  had 
seized  upon  and  imprisoned  their  sovereign  were  suflfered 
to  escape  with  almost  entire  impunity :  forty  citizens  of 
Bruges,  who  had  most  grievously  insulted  the  royal 
person,  being  alone  executed. 

On  Maximilian's  return  to  the  Netherlands  in  1493, 
Albert  of  Saxony  led  his  two  children  to  him  at  Maes- 
tricht,  with  these  words,  "  God  has  granted  me  success, 
therefore  I  bring  you  these  two  children  and  an  obedient 
land."  Maximilian  owed  him  a  heavy  debt  of  gratitude, 
for  he  had  furnished  the  means  for  carrying  on  the  war 
in  the  Netherlands  from  his  private  proi)erty,  the  mines 
in  the  Snow  moiratains. 

Relations  of  Germany,  France,  and  Italy.— France 

at  this  time  cast  her  eyes  upon  Italy.  Nepotism,  the 
family  interest  of  the  popes,  who  bestowed  enormous 
wealth,  and  even  Italian  principalities,  on  their  nephews, 
relatives,  and  natural  children,  was  the  prevalent  spirit 
of  the  court  of  Rome.  The  Pope's  relations  plundered 
the  Papal  treasury,  which  he  filled  with  the  plunder  of 
the  whole  of  Christendom,  by  raising  the  Church  taxes, 
amplifying  the  ceremonies,  and  selling  absolution.  Alex- 
ander VI.,  who  at  that  period  occupied  the  pontifical 
throne,  surpassed  all  his  predecessors  in  wickedness.   He 


192 


HISTORY  OP  GERMANY.  [PERIOD  V. 


tiled  of  poisoix  (1503),  laden  with  crimes.  The  royal 
House  of  Aragon  again  sat  on  the  throne  of  Naples.  In 
Upper  Italy,  besides  the  ancient  republics  of  Venice  and 
Genoa,  and  the  principalities  of  Milan  and  Fermra, 
Florence  had  become  half  a  republic,  half  a  principality, 
under  the  rule  of  the  House  of  Medici. 

France,  ever  watchful,  was  not  tardy  in  finding  an 
opportunity  for  interference.  In  Milan,  the  young  duke, 
Giovanni  Galeazzo  Sforza,  had  been  murdered  by  his 
uncle  Luigi,  who  seized  the  ducal  throne.  Ferdinand  of 
Naples,  Galeazzo's  brother-in-law,  declaring  against  the 
murderer,  Luigi  claimed  the  assistance  of  the  French 
King,  Charles  VIII.,  who  promised  him  his  protection, 
and  at  the  same  time  asserted  his  own  claim  to  the 
Neapolitan  throne  as  the  descendant  of  the  House  of 
Aujou.  In  1494,  he  unexpectedly  entered  Italy  at  the 
head  of  an  immense  army,  partly  composed  of  Swiss 
mercenaries,  and  took  Naples.  Milan,  alarmed  at  the 
overwhelming  strength  of  her  importunate  ally,  now 
entered  into  a  league  with  the  Pope,  the  Emperor,  Spain, 
and  Naples,  for  the  purpose  of  driving  him  out  of  Italy, 
and  Alexander  VI.  astonished  the  world  by  leaguing 
with  the  arch-foe  of  Christendom,  the  Turkish  Sultan, 
against  the  "  most  Christian  "  King  of  France.  Charles 
yielded  to  the  storm,  and  voluntarily  returned  to  France 
(1495).  Maximilian  had  been  unable,  from  want  of 
money,  to  go  in  person  to  Italy,  and  3000  men  were  all 
he  had  been  able  to  supply.  He  had,  however,  secured 
himself  by  a  marriage  with  Bianca  Maria,  the  sister  of 
Galeazzo  Sforza,  and  attempted,  on  the  withdrawal  of 
the  French,  to  put  forward  his  pretensions  as  Emperor. 
Pisa  imploring  his  aid  against  Florence  (1496),  he  under- 
took a  campaign  at  the  head  of  an  inconsiderable  force, 
in  which  he  was  unsuccessful,  the  Venetians  refusing 
their  promised  aid.  His  marriage  with  Bianca,  a  woman 
of  a  haughty,  cold  disposition,  unendowed  with  the  mental 
and  personal  gi-aces  of  Mary  of  Burgundy,  was  far  from 
happy. 

Relations  of  Germany  and  Spain.— A  still  closer 


THE   AULIC   COUNCIL.  193 

1273-1520.] 

.s  formed  with  Spain,  where  the  whole  power 
he  was  \\\  Finance,  centered  in  the  monarch.  The  last 
the  rege^^ts  ^i  the  ancient  petty  kings  of  this  country, 
chann^^j^^l  of  Aragon,  and  Isabella  of  Castile,  had  married, 
ISO^by  their  united  force,  had  expelled  the  Moors  (1492), 
^^^^ear  also  famous  for  the  discovery  of  America,  whose 
mines  so  greatly  enriched  Spain,  by  Columbus,  the  Genoese. 
The  marriage  of  Philip,  Maximilian's  son  (already  related), 
with  the  Infanta  Juanna,  and  that  of  his  daughter  Mar- 
garet, with  the  Infant  Don  Juan,  Prince  of  the  Asturias  ^ 
(1496),  brought  this  splendid  monarchy  into  the  House 
of  Hapsburg,  the  Infimt  Don  Juan  expiring  shortly  after- 
wards, and  the  whole  of  Spain  falling  to  Philip  in  right 
of  his  wife. 

Maximilian  founds  the  Aulic  Council  (1501).— The 

Diet  of  Worms  aimed  at  establishing  a  perpetual  public 
peace  in  Germany,  by  adopting  vigorous  measures  for 
the  suppression  of  private  warfare,  and  by  providing  a 
paramount  court  of  justice— the  imperial  chamber.     But 
as  the  establishment  of  the  imperial  chamber  was  dis- 
agreeable to  the  Emperor,  to  rescue  from  its  jurisdiction 
such  causes  as  he  considered  lay  more  peculiarly  within 
the  range  of  his  prerogative,  and  to  encroach  by  degrees 
on  the  jurisdiction  of  this  odious  tribunal,  Maximilian, 
in   1501,  laid  the  foundation  of  the   celebrated  Aulic 
Council.     But  the  time  consumed  in  these  deliberations 
rendered  hopeless   any  result   from   the   expedition   of 
Maximilian  into  Italy.    The  storm  had  passed  away,  and 
the  imbecile  King  of  France  had  returned  to  the  de- 
baucheries of  his  court  in  Paris;  when  at  last,  with  a 
handful  of  troops  not  exceeding  4000  men,  the  Emperor 
made  an  appearance  in  Italy,  at  once  unnecessary  and 
unacceptable.    No  danger  was  apprehended  from  France, 
and  the  force  which  he  brought  with  him  was  sufficiently 

»  The  title  of  I'rince  of  the  Asturias  was  appropriated  to  the 
heir  apparent  of  Castile,  in  professed  imitation  of  that  of  Prmce 
of  Wales,  and  was  bestowed  on  the  Infant  Don  Henry,  after- 
wards Henry  III.,  on  the  occasion  of  his  marriage  with  the 
dauf'hter  of  John  of  Gaunt,  Duke  of  Lancaster,  in  1388. 


192 


HISTORY  OP   GERMANY.  [PERIOD  V. 


died  of  poison  (1503),  laden  witli  crimes.  The  royal 
House  of  Anigon  again  sat  on  the  throne  of  Naples.  In 
Upper  Italy,  besides  the  ancient  republics  of  Venice  and 
Genoa,  and  the  principalities  of  Milan  and  Ferrara, 
Florence  had  become  half  a  republic,  half  a  principality, 
under  the  rule  of  the  House  of  Medici. 

France,  ever  watchful,  was  not  tardy  in  finding  an 
opportunity  for  interference.  In  Milan,  the  young  duke, 
Giovanni  Galeazzo  Sforza,  had  been  murdered  by  his 
uncle  Luigi,  who  seized  the  ducal  throne.  Ferdinand  of 
Naples,  Galeazzo's  brother-in-law,  declaring  against  the 
murderer,  Luigi  claimed  the  assistance  of  the  French 
King,  Charles  VIII.,  who  promised  him  his  protection, 
and  at  the  same  time  asserted  his  own  claim  to  the 
Neapolitan  throne  as  the  descendant  of  the  House  of 
Aujou.  In  1494,  he  unexpectedly  entered  Italy  at  the 
head  of  an  immense  army,  partly  composed  of  Swiss 
mercenaries,  and  took  Naples.  Milan,  alarmed  at  the 
overwhelming  strength  of  her  importunate  ally,  now 
entered  into  a  league  with  the  Pope,  the  Emperor,  Spain, 
and  Naples,  for  the  purpose  of  driving  him  out  of  Italy, 
and  Alexander  VI.  astonished  the  world  by  leaguing 
with  the  arch-foe  of  Christendom,  the  Turkish  Sultan, 
against  the  "  most  Christian  "  King  of  France.  Charles 
yielded  to  the  storm,  and  voluntarily  returned  to  France 
(1495).  Maximilian  had  been  unable,  from  want  of 
money,  to  go  in  person  to  Italy,  and  3000  men  were  all 
he  had  been  able  to  supply.  He  had,  however,  secured 
himself  by  a  marriage  with  Bianca  Maria,  the  sister  of 
Galeazzo  Sforza,  and  attempted,  on  the  withdrawal  of 
the  French,  to  put  forward  his  pretensions  as  Emperor. 
Pisa  imploring  his  aid  against  Florence  (1496),  he  under- 
took a  campaign  at  the  head  of  an  inconsiderable  force, 
in  which  he  was  unsuccessful,  the  Venetians  refusing 
tlieir  promised  aid.  His  marriage  with  Bianca,  a  woman 
of  a  haughty,  cold  disposition,  unendowed  with  the  mental 
and  personal  graces  of  Mary  of  Burgundy,  was  far  from 

happy. 
Relations  of  Germany  and  Spain. — A  still  closer 


THE   AULIC   COUNCIL. 


193 


formed  with  Spain,  where  the  whole  power 
France,  centered  in  the  monarch.  The  last 
hts  of  the  ancient  petty  kings  of  this  country, 
fand  of  Aragon,  and  Isabella  of  Castile,  had  married, 
>y  their  united  force,  had  expelled  the  Moors  (1492), 
^ear  also  famous  for  the  discovery  of  America,  whose 
mines  so  greatly  enriched  Spain,  by  Columbus,  the  Genoese. 
The  marriage  of  Philip,  Maximilian's  son  (already  related), 
with  the  Infanta  Juanna,  and  that  of  his  daughter  Mar- 
garet, with  the  Infant  Don  Juan,  Prince  of  the  Asturias  * 
(1496),  brought  this  splendid  monarchy  into  the  House 
of  Hapsburg,  the  Infant  Don  Juan  expiiing  shortly  after- 
wards, and  the  whole  of  Spain  fiilling  to  Philip  in  right 
of  his  wife. 

Maximilian  founds  the  Aulic  Council  (1501). — The 
Diet  of  Worms  aimed  at  establishing  a  peri^etual  public 
peace  in  Germany,  by  adopting  vigorous  measures  for 
the  suppression  of  i)rivate  warfare,  and  by  providing  a 
paramount  court  of  justice — the  imperial  chamber.  But 
as  the  establishment  of  the  imperial  chamber  was  dis- 
agreeable to  the  Emperor,  to  rescue  from  its  jurisdiction 
such  causes  as  he  considered  lay  more  peculiarly  within 
the  range  of  his  prerogative,  and  to  encroach  by  degrees 
on  the  jurisdiction  of  this  odious  tribunal,  Maximilian, 
in  1501,  laid  the  foundation  of  the  celebrated  Aulic 
Council.  But  the  time  consumed  in  these  deliberations 
rendered  hopeless  any  result  from  the  expedition  of 
Maximilian  into  Italy.  The  storm  had  passed  away,  and 
the  imbecile  Kinij  of  France  had  returned  to  the  dc- 
baucherics  of  his  court  in  Paris;  when  at  last,  with  a 
handful  of  troops  not  exceeding  4000  men,  the  Emperor 
made  an  appearance  in  Italy,  at  once  unnecessary  and 
unacceptable.  No  danger  was  apprehended  from  France, 
and  the  force  which  he  Ijrought  with  him  was  sufficiently 


*  The  title  of  l^riiicc  of  the  Asturias  was  appropriated  to  the 
heir  apparent  of  Castile,  in  professed  imitation  of  that  of  Prince 
of  Wales,  and  was  bestowed  on  the  Infant  Don  Henry,  after- 
wards Henry  III.,  on  the  occasion  of  his  marriage  with  the 
daughter  of  John  of  Gaunt,  Duke  of  Lancaster,  in  1388. 


191 


HISTORY   OP   GERMANY. 


large  to  excite  the  suspicions  of  the  rulers  ol 
Venice.  With  the  combined  object  of  avertiil 
prehended  peril,  and  of  rendering  his  name  r3 
Maximilian  was  induced,  by  these  two  powei-s,  to  a) 
the  reduction  of  the  insolent  city  of  Florence.  His^ 
errors,  and  the  incompetency  of  his  forces,  the  desertH 
of  the  Venetian  troops,  and  the  succours  thrown  in  by 
the  French,  showed  him  the  futility  of  his  designs.  He 
returned  in  the  autumn. 

Defeat  of  the  Imperial  Army  by  the  Swiss. — A  de- 
vastating war  ensued  in  Switzerland  upon  his  return. 
The  Swiss,  courted  by  the  princes  of  Europe,  to  whom 
their  mercenary  infantry  were  indispensable  in  the  wars 
of  the  time,  refused  to  accede  to  the  demands  of  Maxi- 
milian, until  relieved  from  the  exactions  of  the  Imperial 
Chamber.  Long-sui)pressed  jealousies  at  last  broke  out 
into  active  hostilities.  The  war  was  at  first  carried  on 
by  the  troops  of  the  Swabian  League,  of  which  the  couniy 
of  Tyrol  was  a  member,  but  to  the  advantage  of  the 
Swiss,  who  were  victorious  in  numerous  and  bloody 
actions.  On  the  refusal  of  the  German  nobles  to  servo 
against  the  peasantry  of  Switzerland,  Maximilian  de- 
spatched the  Count  of  Fui-stenberg  with  1G,000  troops. 
These  were  defeated  shortly  after  at  Dornach,  and  a 
treaty  was  concluded,  by  which  the  independence  of  the 
Swiss  was  fully  established  (1499). 

The  fruitless  result  of  this  expedition,  which  tarnished 
most  injuriously  the  reputation  of  Maximilian,  and  his 
unsuccessful  collision  with  the  Swiss,  in  the  intermediate 
years,  were  followed  by  a  submission  on  his  part  to  the 
establishment  of  a  council  of  regency  for  the  administra.- 
tion  of  the  empire  during  the  absence  of  its  ordinary 
head,  and  during  the  intervals  of  the  Diets.  At  Worms 
he  had  oj)posed  this  institution,  as  d(;rogatory  to  his  im- 
perial rights.  In  the  hope  of  finding  this  smaller  body 
more  easily  manageable  than  the  more  numerous  one  of 
the  Diet,  he  instructed  the  members  to  ]n*oceed,  accord- 
ing to  certain  directions  of  his  own,  in  the  negotiations 
for  peace  with  France,     But  ftiiling  to  persuade  them, 


1273-1520.] 


JUANNA   OF   CASTILE. 


195 


he  was  unable  to  carry  them  on  through  his  son  Philip, 
the  regent  of  Spain,  and  a  treaty  concluded  through  this 
channel  between  him  and  Louis  XII.,  in  the  close  of 
1501,  relieved  him  from  the  pressure  of  hostilities  with 
that  prince. 

Maximilian  ever  intended  well.  He  fervently  desired 
to  march  against  the  Turks,  to  reannex  Italy  to  the 
empire,  to  chastise  the  insolence  of  France — in  a  word,  to 
act  as  became  a  great  German  Emi)eror;  but  he  was  a 
prisoner  in  the  midst  of  the  weapons  of  Germany,  a 
beggar  in  the  midst  of  her  wealth;  the  vassals  of  the 
empire,  sunk  in  shameless  egotism,  coldly  refused  to 
assist  their  sovereign,  and  rendered  him  the  laughing- 
stock of  Euroi)e. 

The  fanciful  plans  of  Maximilian  for  a  crusade  against 
the  Turks  were  soon  thrown  aside  for  hostilities,  which, 
arising  in  his  immediate  vicinity,  were  productive  of 
some  honour,  and  a  considerable  accession  of  territory : 
this  was  the  petty  war  of  succession  in  Bavaria,  termi- 
nated by  the  decision  of  the  Diet  of  Cologne  in  1505. 
Disturbances  had  also  arisen  in  the  Netherlands,  where 
the  people  favoured  Charles  of  Gueldres  to  the  prejudice 
of  the  Hapsburg.  Maximilian's  son,  Philip  the  Iland- 
some^  at  length  concluded  a  truce  with  his  opponent,  and 
went  into  Si)ain  to  take  possession  of  Castile,  whose 
queen,  Isabella,  had  just  expired,  in  the  name  of  her 
daughter,  his  wife,  Juanna.  Ferdinand  of  Aragon,  his 
father-in-law,  however,  refused  to  yield  the  throne  of 
Castile  during  his  lifetime,  and,  in  his  old  age,  married  a 
young  Frenchwoman,  in  the  hope  of  raising  another  heir 
to  the  throne  of  Aragon. 

Juanna  of  Castile  and  Philip  the  Handsome. — Juanna 
had  been  imprisoned  during  Philip's  absence,  by  command 
of  her  cruel  father,  in  Medina  del  Campo.  Animated  by 
a  strong  desire  to  rejoin  her  husband,  whom  she  passion- 
ately loved,  she  placed  herself  under  the  gateway,  whence 
she  refused  to  move,  notwithstanding  the  inclemency  of 
the  weather,  and  remained  there  night  and  day  until  she 
was   liberated .      She  was   reported  to  her  husband  as 


lOG 


HISTORY  OF  GERMANr. 


[period  V. 


crazed,  but  his  messenger  disproved  tlie  fact,  and  lie  re- 
joined her,  but  shortly  afterwards,  died,  either  of  a  sudden 
chill,  or  of  poison,  which  Juanna  was  accused  of  havini^ 
administered;  but  a  heavier  suspicion  falls  upon  Ferdinand. 
Juanna  refused  to  quit  the  body  of  her  husband,  which 
she  constantly  held  in  her  embrace,  and  watched  over, 
taking  it  everywhere  with  her,  so  that,  as  had  been  once 
foretold  to  him,  he  wandered  more  about  his  Spanish 
kingdom  after  his  death  than  during  his  lifetime.     She 
was  at  length  persuaded  to  permit  his  interment;  but 
the  body  had  scarcely  been  removed  ere  she  imagined 
herself  at  Medina  del  Campo,  her  beloved  Philip  in  tho 
Netherlands,  and  that  she  was  not  allowed  to  join  him, 
and  her  attendants  were  compelled  to  beg  of  her  to  order 
the  vault  to  be  re-opened  in  order  to  convince  herself  of 
his  death.     She  did  so,  but  had  the  coffin  once  more 
placed  at  her  side.     She  then  consoled  herself  with  a 
nurse's  tale  of  a  dead  king,  who,  after  a  lapse  of  fourteen 
years,  was   restored  to  life,  and  with  childish  delight 
awaited  the  day.     On  finding  her  hopes  disappointed  she 
became  incurably  insane,  and  was  put  under  restraint. 
She  survived  her  husband  fifty  years.     Philip  left  two 
sons,    Charles   and   Ferdinand.      His   sister,    IMargaret, 
became  Regent  of  the  Netherlands,  whence  Albert,  the 
brave  Duke  of  Saxony,  had  been  ex]:>elled  by  Philip,  and 
degi-aded  to  a  mere  stadtholder  of  Western-Friesland. 

Maximilian  cedes  Milan  to  France  by  the  Treaty 
of  Blois  (1504).— Charles  had  been  succeeded  on  tho 
throne  of  France  by  Louis  XII.,  who  renewed  the  pro- 
jects upon  Italy,  and  maintained  his  claims  upon  Milan 
in  right  of  his  gi-andmother,  a  Visconti.  Venice,  ever 
at  strife  with  that  city,  gladly  favoured  his  pretensions; 
and  Pope  Alexander  VI.,  in  the  hope  of  gaining  by  his 
means  an  Italian  throne  for  his  son,  the  notorious  Ciesar 
Borgia,  also  sided  with  him.  Louis  invaded  Italy  (1500), 
and  took  possession  of  Milan.  Maximilian  beheld  tho 
successes  of  the  French  monarch  in  Italy,  and  Ferdmand 
of  Naples  dragged  in  chains  to  France,  with  impotent 
i^age,  and  convoked  one  Diet  after  another  without  being 


1273-1520.] 


DEATli   OF  MAXIMILIAN. 


i07 


able  to  raise  either  money  or  troops.     At  length,  m  the 
hope  of  saving  his  honour,  he  invested  France  with  the 
duchy  of  his  brother-in-law,  Sforza,  and,  by  the  treaty  of 
Blois  (1504),   ceded  Milan   to  France  for  the  sum  of 
200,000  francs.     The  marriage  of  Charles,  Maximilian's 
grandson,  witli  Claudia,  the  daughter  of  Louis,  who  it 
was  stipulated  should  bring  Milan  in  dowry  to  the  House 
of  Hapsburg,  also  formed  one  of  the  articles  of  this  treaty; 
and  in  the  event  of  any  impediment  to  the  marriage  being 
raised  by  France,  Milan  was  to  be  unconditionally  restored 
to  the  House  of  Austria.    The  marriage  of  the  Archduke 
Ferdinand  with  Anna,  the  youthful  daughter  of  Wladis- 
law   of    Hungary   and   Bohemia,    was   more   fortunate. 
Ferdinand  of  Spain,  unable  to  tolerate   the   Hapsburg 
as  his  successor  on  the  throne,  entered  into  a  leagiie 
with  France,  who  instantly  infringed  the  treaty  of  Blois, 
and  Claudia  was  married  to  Francis  of  Anjou,  the  heir 
apixarent  to  the  throne  of  France.     Maximilian,  enraged 
at  Louis's  perfidy,  vainly  called  upon  the  imperial  estates 
of  Germany  to  revenge  the  insult;  he  was  merely  enabled 
to  mise  a  small  body  of  troops,  with  which  he  crossed  the 
Alps  to  take  possession  of  Milan,  and  of  being  finally 
crowned  by  the  Pope.     The  Venetians,  however,  refused 
to  grant  him  a  free  passage,  defeated  him  at  Catora,  and 
compelled  him  to  retrace  his  steps.     At  Trient,  Lang, 
Archbishop  of  Salzburg,  placed  the  crown  on  his  brow 
in  the  name  of  the  Pope   (1508).     Tlie  confederation, 
overwhelmed  with  reproaches,  and  moved  to  shame  by 
the  earnest  appeal  of  the  Emperor  to  theii'  honour  as 
Germans,  sent  ambassadors  to  Constance,  to  lay  excuses 
for  their  conduct  before  the  Emperor;  but  the  reconcilia- 
tion that  ensued  was  speedily  forgotten  on  the  unexpected 
annunciation  of  the  alliance  of  the  Em peroi'  with  France. 
Decline  and  Death  of  Maximilian.— The  Elector  of 
Saxony  and  Maximilian  were  the  two  senior  princes  ot 
Germany;  the  latter  was  declining  to  the  close  of  a  lite 
which  his  own  vague  and  indefinite  views  of  policy,  and 
wasteful  habits  with  regard  to  money,  had  contributed  to 
embitter  and  embroil.     Since  his  treaty  with  the  bwiss 


108  msTOftV  01*  GERiitAyY.  [period  v. 

in  1499,  Maximilian  had  been  deeply  invoived  in  all  the 
bloody  and  disgi\aceful  politics  of  Italy.  He  had  failed 
to  rescue  the  duchy  of  Milan,  a  fief  of  the  empire,  from 
the  gmsp  of  Louis  XII.;  his  connection,  Ludovico  Sforza, 
had  pined  away  his  latter  yeai-s  in  French  dungeons,  to 
which  the  perfidy  of  his  Swiss  mercenaries  had  consigned 
him;  the  ill-fated  King  of  Naples  taxed  him  with  neglect- 
ing to  supply  the  aid  for  which  he  had  received  a  sum  of 
money,  and  his  succession  to  the  League  of  Cambray, 
that  enduring  monument  of  the  folly  and  wickedness  of 
the  sixteenth  century,  with  his  vacillating  policy  subse- 
quently, have  almost  counterbalanced,  in  the  judgment 
of  posterity,  the  innate  good  qualities  of  his  character, 
and  the  undoubted  improvements  introduced  by  him  into 
the  machinery  of  the  empire,  and  internal  administration 
of  his  own  dominions.  His  health  was  now  declining, 
and  he  survived  by  only  three  months  the  Diet  of  Augs- 
burg in  October  L518,  thus  witnessing  the  first  outbreak 
of  that  movement  which  was  to  form  the  centre  of 
German  affairs  for  a  period  of  one  hundred  and  thirty 
years.  He  died  in  peace,  and  with  devotion,  at  Wels, 
on  Januaiy  12,  1519. 

The  Reformation  (1517).— The  date  fixed  by  common 
consent  as  that  of  the  commencement  of  the  Reformation 
is  the  year  1517,  during  the  course  of  which  the  con- 
spiracy of  his  cardinals  against  Leo  X.,  and  the  termina- 
tion of  the  dilatory  and  irregular  sittings  of  the  Council 
of  Lateran  took  place.  The  eyes  of  men  had  been 
gradually  opened  to  the  frauds  and  corruptions  of  the 
Romish  Church,  and  the  rapacity  of  the  Court  of  Rome 
had  alienated  the  minds  of  princes  and  people.  The 
awakened  love  of  knowledge  led  men  to  asi)ire  after 
freedom  of  thought,  and  to  feel  heavy  the  yoke  which 
the  Church  of  Rome,  though  never  less  intolerant  or 
arbitrary,  imposed  in  all  mattei-s  relating  to  religious 
doctrine.  Mental  emancipation  was  panted  after.  A 
proper  occasion  and  a  bold  leader  were  all  that  were 
wanting  to  excite  the  flames  of  spiiitual  rebellion.  The 
occasion  was  soon  presented,  and  the  loader  appeared. 


1273-1520.] 


MAtlTIN  LUTHEtt. 


199 


Martin  Luther  was  born  at  Eisleben  on  the   10th 
November  1483.     His  father,  a  miner,  near  that  place, 
sent  him,  in  his  fourteenth  year,  to  the  High  School  at 
Magdeburg,  where  he  was  compelled  to  eke  out  his  scanty 
means  by  begging  and  I  allad -singing,  practices  then  not 
uncommon.    The  usual  studies  of  that  age  were  ill  adapted 
to  satisfy  his  searching  spirit.     In  1505,  he  entered  into 
the  Augustine  fraternity,  much  against  the  will  of  his 
father.     A  gloomy  turn  of  mind,  chequered  with  frequent 
fits  of  moody  depression,  led  him,  at  the  advice  of  his 
superior,  Stauptz,  to  seek  a  remedy  in  the  careful  study 
of  the  Scriptures.    Religious  belief,  in  the  sense  of  a  true 
and  undivided  faith  in  the  doctrines  of  Christianity,  had 
no  recognised  existence  at  the  period  we  have  reached. 
But  this  absence  of  religious  belief  was  combined  with  a 
most  implicit  trust  in  the  directions  and  authority  of  the 
Church.     The  first  book  that  Guttenberg  published  in 
H51  was  the  Holy  Bible — in  the  Latin  language,  to  be 
sure,  and  after  the  Vulgate  edition,  but  still  containing, 
to  those  who  could  gather  it,  the  manna  of  the  Word. 
Two  years  after  that,  in  1453,  the  capture  of  Constan- 
tinople by  the  Turks  had  scattered  the  learning  of  the 
Greeks  among  all  the  nations  of  the  West.     The  univer- 
sities were  soon  supplied  with  professors,  who  displayed 
the  hitherto   unexplored  treasures  of  the   language  of 
Pericles  and  Demosthenes.     Everywhere  a  spirit  of  in- 
quiry began  to  reawaken,  but  limited  as  yet  to  subjects 
of  philosophy  and  antiquity.     Erasmus  was  alarmed  at 
the  state  of  feeling  in  1516,  and  expressed  his  belief  that, 
if  those  Grecian  studies  were  pursued,  the  ancient  deities 
would  resume  their  sway.     But  the  Bible  was  already 
reaping  its  ap]>ointed  harvest.     Its  voice,  lost  in  the  din 
of  speciilative  philosophies  and  the  dissipations  of  courts, 
was  heard  in  obscure  places,  where  it  had  never  pene- 
trated before.     In  1505,  Luther  was  twenty-two  years  of 
age.     He  had  made  himself  a  scholar  by  attendance  at 
schools  where   his   poverty  almost   debarred  him  from 
ai)pearing.    Afterwards  he  had  gone  to  Erfurt,  and,  tired 
or  afi-aid  of  the  world,  anxious  for  opportunities  of  self- 


200 


lilStORY  OP  GERMANY. 


[period  V. 


examination,  and  dissatisfied  with  his  spiritual  state,  ho 
entered  the  convent  of  the  Aiigustines,  as  ah-eady  related, 
and  in  two  years  more,  in  1507,  he  became  priest  and 
monk.  A  journey  to  Rome,  in  1510,  on  the  business  of 
his  Order,  brouglit  under  his  view  the  depravity  of  tho 
Papal  Court,  over  which  at  that  time  the  military  Julius 
II.  presided,  and  we  may  enter  into  the  suq)rise  of  Luther 
at  seeing  the  Father  of  the  Faifeliful  breathing  blood 
and  ruin  to  his  rival  neighbours.  But  the  force  of  early 
education  was  still  unimpaired.  The  Pojie  was  Pope,  and 
the  devout  German  thought  of  him  on  his  knees.  But 
in  the  year  1517,  a  man  of  the  name  of  Tetzel,  a  Domini- 
can of  the  rudest  manners  and  most  brazen  audacity, 
appeared  in  the  market-place  of  Wittenberg,  ringing  a  bell, 
and  hawking  indulgences  from  the  Holy  See,  to  be  sold 
to  all  the  faithful.  A  new  Pope  was  on  the  throne,  the 
voluptuous  Leo  X.  He  had  i*esolved  to  carry  on  the 
buildings  of  the  great  Church  of  St.  Peter,  and  having 
exhausted  his  funds  in  riotous  living,  he  sent  round  his 
emissaries  to  collect  fresh  treasures  by  the  sale  of  jmrdonB 
for  human  sin.  "Pour  in  your  money,"  cried  Tetzel, 
"and  whatever  crimes  you  have  committed,  or  may 
commit,  are  forgiven  !  Pour  in  your  coin,  and  the  souls 
of  your  friends  and  relations  will  fly  out  of  purgatory  tho 
moment  they  hear  the  chink  of  your  dollars  at  the  bottom 
of  the  box."  Luther  was  then  doctor  of  divinity,  pro- 
fessor in  the  University,  and  pastoral  visitor  of  two 
provinces  of  the  empire.  He  felt  it  was  his  duty  to 
interfere.  He  learned  for  the  firet  time  himself  how  far 
indulgencies  were  supposed  to  go.  He  wrote  and  preached 
against  them ;  he  was  listened  to  with  admimtion :  opposi- 
tion excited  him;  he  had,  though  not  profoundly  learned, 
a  strong  sense  of  truth,  and  a  vigorous  imagination;  his 
eloquence  was  popular,  his  command  of  his  native  tongue 
great;  his  soul  was  full  of  love  to  his  country  and  man- 
kind, and  his  courage  in  maintaining  what  he  held  to  be 
true  invincible. 

On  the  festival  of  All  Saints  in  November  1517,  Luther 
read  a  series  of  propositions  against  indulgences  in  the 


1273-1520.] 


HENRY   VIII.    OF   ENGLAND. 


201 


great  church,  and  startled  all  Germany  like  a  thunder- 
clap with  a  printed  sermon  on  the  same  subject.  Tho 
press  began  its  work,  and  people  no  longer  fought  in 
darkness.  Nationalities  were  at  an  end  when  so  wide- 
embracing  a  subject  was  treated  by  so  universal  an  agent. 
The  monk's  voice  was  heard  in  all  lands,  even  in  the 
walls  of  Rome,  and  crossed  the  sea,  and  came  in  due  time 
to  England.  "Tush!  tush!  'tis  a  quarrel  of  monks," 
said  Leo  X. ;  and  with  an  affectation  of  candour,  he  re- 
marked, "  This  Luther  writes  well;  he  is  a  man  of  fine 
genius." 

Henry  VIIL  of  England— Pope  Leo  X.,  and  Luther. 

— Gallant  young  Henry  VIIL  thought  it  a  good  oppor- 
tunity to  show  his  talent,  and  meditated  an  assault  on 
the  heretic — a  curious  duel  between  a  pale  recluse  and 
the  gayest  prince  in  Christendom.  But  the  recluse  was 
none  the  worse  when  the  book  was  published,  and  the 
prince  earned,  from  the  gratitude  of  the  Pope,  the  name 
of  '*  Defender  of  the  Faith,"  which  is  still  one  of  the 
titles  of  the  English  crown.  Penniless  Maximilian  looked 
on  well  pleased,  and  wrote  to  a  Saxon  counsellor :  "  All 
the  popes  I  have  had  anything  to  do  with  have  been 
rogues  and  cheats.  The  game  with  the  priests  is  begin- 
ning. What  your  monk  is  doing  is  not  to  be  despised ; 
take  care  of  him."  Luther's  own  prince,  the  Elector  of 
Saxony,  was  his  Grm  friend,  and  on  one  side  or  other  all 
Europe  was  on  the  gaze.  Leo  at  last  perceived  the 
danger,  and  summoned  the  monk  to  Pome.  He  might 
as  well  have  yielded  in  the  struggle  at  once,  for  from 
Pome  he  never  could  have  returned  alive.  He  consented, 
however,  to  appear  before  the  Legate  at  Augsburg,  at- 
tended by  a  strong  body-guard  furnished  by  the  Elector, 
and  held  his  ground  against  the  threats  and  promises  of 
*  the  Cardinal  Cajetan.  When  Charles  V.  obtained  the 
empire,  he  was  again  summoned  and  appeared  before 
the  Diet  at  Worms.  He  was  dismissed;  and,  under 
the  protection  of  the  Elector  of  Saxony,  he  still  con- 
tinued to  'propagate  his  opinions  through  tho  north  of 
Germany. 


^^^  blSTORT  OP  CERMAin'.  [pERIOD  V. 

Commencement  of  Modern  History.— The  Middle 
Ages  emUvith  Maximilian,  their  last  repmentative.  A 
ne«r  epoch  is  now  reachcd-that  of  the  three  great  Re- 
volutions marking  the  transition  from  the  Middle  Ages 
to  Modern  Times :-l.  The  extinction  of  feudalism:  2. 
The  commencement  of  ocean  navigation,  and  discovery 
of  the  New  World;  3.  The  causes  which  led  to  the  Re- 
formation of  the  Church.  The  effects  of  these  mighty 
changes  upon  European  civilization  will  be  noticed  in 
detail  hereafter  in  the  Chapter  on  Progress. 


*% 


1273-1520.]  tABLE  OP  COI^TEMPOnARY  SOVEREIGNS.         203 


Popes. 

Nicholas  V. 
Calixtus  III. 
Pius  II. 
Paul  II. 
Sixtus  IV. 
Innocent  VIII. 
Alexander  VI. 
Pius  III. 
Julius  II. 
Leo  X. 

1 

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Frederick  I 
Maximilian 

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V 


1519-1G48.] 


ARRIVAL   OF   CHARLES   V. 


205 


SIXTH    PERIOD. 

FROM   CHARLES   V.   TO   THE    PEACE   OP   WESTPHALIA. — 

(1519-1648). 

Charles  V.  (1519).— As  Maximilian  left  no  son,  tlio 
partisans  of  the  House  of  Austria  cast  their  eyes  on  the 
eldest  of  his  grandsons,  Charles,  King  of  Si)ain.  But 
the  youthful  monarch  had  many  op})onents.  As  King 
of  Naples,  which  he  inherited  through  Ferdinand  of 
Aragon,  he  was  too  dangerous  a  neighbour  to  the  Papal 
See  for  Leo  X.  to  wish  him  success ;  as  King  of  Spain, 
Lord  of  the  Netherlands,  and  Archduke  of  Austria,  his 
power  was  justly  dreaded  by  the  states  of  the  empire  and 
by  Europe.  He  had  for  his  competitor  Francis  I.  of 
France,  who  had  distinguished  himself  by  the  conquest 
of  the  Milanese,  and  the  adjustment  of  the  contending 
interests  of  the  Italian  states.  The  German  electors, 
afraid  of  the  exorbitant  power  both  of  Charles  and  of 
Francis,  would  liave  rejected  both,  and  conferred  the 
imperial  crown  on  Frederick,  Duke  of  Saxony;  but  this 
extraordinary  man  declined  the  proffered  dignity,  and  his 
counsel  determined  the  election  in  favour  of  Charles  of 
Austria  (1519). 

Hostilities  between  Charles  V.  and  Francis  I.  of 

France. — Charles  V.  and  Francis  I.  were  now  declared 
enemies,  and  their  mutual  claims  on  each  other's  dominions 
were  the  subject  of  poqjetual  hostility.  The  Emperor 
claimed  Artois  as  part  of  the  Netherlands.  Fmncis  ]>re- 
pared  to  make  good  his  right  to  the  two  Sicilies.  Charles 
had  to  defend  Milan,  arid  support  his  title  to  Navarre, 
which  had  been  wrested  from  France  by  his  grandfather, 
Ferdinand.    Henry  VIII.  of  England  was  courted  by  the 


' 


rival  monarclis,  aa  the  weight  of  England  was  sufficient 
to  turn  the  scale,  where  the  power  of  each  was  nearly 
balanced.     Leo  X.  would  fain  have  interposed  between 
the  rivals,  but  they  were  both  too  great  to  be  under  his 
control.     Charles  in  the  views  of  universal  empire  which 
he  early  conceived,  had,  therefore,  apparently  only  Irancis 
to  impede  him;  but  his  own  character  and  the  strength 
ani  ilsources  of  his  kingdom  gave  t^J^  .lat^^r  such  ad^n- 
ta^es,  that  only  ambition  could  have  bhnded  the  Empeioi 
tothe  plain  fact  that  France  was  then,  as  ever,  unconqtier- 
S.le      But  there  was  just  at  this  period  a  >«oral  power 
aifein-,  more   eflcctual   to  check    the   ambition  of  the 
Emper'or  than  even  the  chivaliy  of  France.     The  great 
reforn.ation  of  religion  had  now  commenced 

State  Of  Germany  on  the  Arrival  of  Charles  V. 
,1590)  -A  period  of  sixteen  months  intervened  from 
theclection  of  Charles  until  his  arrival,  during  which 
e   re 'ency   was  administered   by  the   Electors   Pala- 
Se  and   of  Saxony.      Their   influence  was  eminently 
Surable  to  the  iilfaut  Keformation. .  At  the  ^d^  of 
this  inten-al  the  new  Emperor  had  arrived  fiom  Spain, 
and  had  been  formally  crowned  at  Aix-la.Chapelle  (Oct 
'^3  1 520)     Charles  found  Germany  disturbed  by  l^utliei  s 
hiipient 'scheme.     The  Emperor  was  ^ow  twenty-one 
y  arl  old.    His  sceptre  stretched  over  the  ha  f  of  Em^pe, 
and  across  the  great  sea  to  the  golden  ^^  v    the  f  Uti; 
When  Leo  saw  the  safe  accession  of  Charles  V    the  taith 
ful  sel•^•ant  of  St.  Peter,  he  pushed  mattei-s  ^-^J  'i  hghe; 
hand  against  the  daring  innovator.     At  a  Diet  held  at 
Worms  in  Jan.  1521,  Luther  was  summoned  to  appear 
and  Charles  gave  him  a  safe-conduct  for  his  securitj 
M^-th    Sed  a  new  gown  from  the  not  very  lavish 
Etm'  and  went  in  a  ^ort  of  chariot  to  the  appointed 
eif  serene  and  confident,  trusting  in  the  goodness  of  m 
cau  e     Such  a  scene  never  occurred  in  any  age  of  t  e 
world  as  was  presented  when  the  assembly  met    AH  the 
Tei  and  '^  entates  of  the  German  Empire,  presided 
over  by  the   most  powerful  ruler  that  ever  had  been 
known  in  Europe,  4ex-e  gathered  to  hear  the  tnul  and 


i 


206 


HISTORY   OF   GERMANY.  [PERIOD  VI. 


1519-1G48.] 


THE   CONSTABLE   BOURBON. 


207 


condemnation  of  a  thin,  wan-visaged  young  man,  dressed 
in  a  monk's  gown  and  hood,  and  worn  with  the  fatigues 
and  hazards  of  his  recent  life. 

Luther  refused  to  retract  his  opinions,  and  appealed 
to  a  geneml  council.  So  the  Chancellor  of  Treves  came 
to  him  and  said,  "Martin,  thou  art  disobedient  to  his 
Imperial  Majesty,  therefore  depart  hence  under  the  safe- 
conduct  he  has  given  thee,"  and  the  monk  departed.  As 
he  was  nearing  his  destination,  and  was  passing  through 
a  wood  alone,  some  horsemen  seized  his  person,  dressed 
him  in  military  garb,  and  put  on  him  a  false  beard.  They 
then  mounted  him  on  a  led  horse,  and  rode  mpidly  away. 
His  friends  were  anxious  about  his  fate,  for  a  dreadful 
sentence  had  been  uttered  against  him  by  the  Emperor 
on  the  day  when  his  safe-conduct  expired,  forbidding  any 
one  to  sustain  or  shelter  him,  but  ordering  all  persons  to 
arrest  and  bring  him  into  prison  to  await  the  judgment 
he  deserved.  People  thought  he  had  been  waylaid  and 
killed,  or  at  all  events  sent  into  a  dungeon.  Meantime 
he  was  living  peaceably  and  comfortably  in  the  Castle 
of  Wartburg,  to  which  he  had  been  conveyed  in  this 
mysterious  manner  by  his  friend  the  Elector,  safe  from 
the  machinations  of  his  enemies,  and  busily  engaged  in 
his  immortal  translation  of  the  Holy  Scriptures. 

League  against  Francis  I.  of  France.— While  Charles 
was  absent  from  Spain,  the  towns  of  Castile  broke  out 
into  open  insurrection.  Francis  I.  seized  the  opportunity 
of  recovering  from  John  d' Albert  Navarre,  which  Ferdi- 
nand had  unjustly  seized.  A  French  army  conquered  it; 
but  venturing  to  advance  into  Spain,  it  was  defeated,  and 
Navarre  recovered.  Francis  invaded  the  Low  Countries 
without  advantage.  A  league  was  now  formed  between 
the  Pope,  Henry  VIII.,  and  Charles,  against  the  King 
of  France.  The  Milanese,  disgusted  with  the  insolence 
and  exactions  of  the  French,  resolved  to  expel  them,  and 
put  themselves  under  Francis  Sforza,  brother  to  their 
late  duke.  The  Pope  hired  Swiss,  and  formed  an  army 
under  Prosper  Colonna  to  assist  them.  The  French  were 
defeated;  Lautrec,  their  commander,  fled  to  Venice,  and 


they  lost  everything  but  Cremona,  the  Castle  of  Milan, 
and  a  few  other  places.  Joy  at  this  success  is  said  to 
have  terminated  the  life  of  Leo  X. 

On  the  death  of  Leo  X.,  Charles  placed  his  preceptor, 
Cardinal  Adrian  on  the  Papal  throne,  in  1521,  though 
he  was  a  native  of  Utrecht,  and  almost  a  stranger  at 
Rome;  and  by  the  promise  of  elevating  Wolsey,  the 
minister  of  Henry  VIII.,  to  that  dignity,  on  the  death  of 
Adrian,  gained  the  alliance  of  the  English  monarch  m  his 
war  against  France.  He  also  found  means  of  detaching 
Venice  and  Genoa  from  the  interests  of  his  competitor. 

Defection  of  the  Constable  Bourbon  —  Francis  I. 
made  Prisoner  by  Bourbon.— At  this  critical  time,  when 

he  had  not  only  almost  all  Europe  against  him,  but  was 
in  want  of  money,  Francis  imprudently  quarrelled  with 
his  best  general,  the  Constable  of  Bourbon;  who,  in  re- 
venge, deserted  to  the  Emperor,  and  was  by  him  invested 
with  the  chief  command  of  his  armies.     The  imperial  and 
Italian  generals  under  him  (for  most  of  the  princes  of 
Italy  were  adverse  to  the  government  of  France),  were 
f\ir  superior  in  abilities  to  their  opponents.     Their  troops 
also  were  superior,  more  numerous,  and  better  paid.    The 
French  were  defeated  at  Biagrassa,  and  Charles  was  carry- 
ing everything  before  him  in  Italy,  when  Francis  entered 
the  Llilanese,  and  retook  the  capital ;  some  changes  having 
taken  place  in  his  f\ivour,  by  the  defection  of  the  new 
Pope,  Clement  VII.,  from  the  party  of  Charles,  as  well 
as  of  John  de'  Medici,  one  of  the  best  generals  of  those 
days.     But,  in  the  subsequent  battle  of  Pavia,  though 
Francis   displayed  the  utmost  valour,   his    troops  were 
entirely  defeated,  and  the  French  monarch  became  the 
Constable  of  Bourbon's  prisoner  (1525).    It  was  upon  this 
occasion  that  he  wrote  to  his  mother,  "  Madame,  all  is 
lost  but  my  honour." 

The  Emperor  made  no  advantage  of  his  good  fortune, 
strangely  neglecting  all  the  opportunities  which  it  offered. 
By  the  treaty  of  Madrid  (March,  1526),  Francis  regained 
his  liberty  in  the  following  year,  on  yielding  to  Charles 
the  duchy  of  Burgundy,  and  the  superiority  of  Flanders 


208 


HISTORY   OF   GERMANY.  [PERIOD  VT. 


1519-1C4S.] 


THE   DIET   OF   AUGSBURG. 


209 


and  Artois.  He  gave  his  two  sons  as  hostages  for  the 
fiilfihnent  of  these  conditions;  but  the  States  refused  to 
ratify  them,  and  the  faihire  was  compromised  for  a  sum 
of  money. 

Rome  Captured  and  Sacked  by  the  Imperialists — 
Death  of  Bourbon. — The  war  was  now  renewed.  The 
Pope  and  most  of  the  Italian  powers,  exasperated  by  the 
tyranny  of  Charles,  and  tlie  cruelty  and  excesses  of  the 
Spanish  troops,  took  the  part  of  Francis.  Henry  VIII. 
of  England  also  espoused  his  cause.  Bourbon  com- 
manded the  imperial  forces  in  the  Milanese,  and  finding 
his  sokliers  becoming  mutinous  for  want  of  pay,  he  re- 
solved to  march  to  Rome,  and  pacify  their  discontent  by 
giving  tliem  the  plunder  of  the  Eternal  City.  At  tho 
approach  of  the  imjierial  army,  Clement  shut  himself  up 
in  the  Castle  of  St.  Angelo,  leaving  the  citizens  to  make 
the  best  defence  they  could.  The  assault  was  given  early 
in  the  morning  of  the  Gth  May  1527,  and  as  Bourbon 
was  in  the  act  of  placing  a  scaling  ladder  against  the 
walls,  he  was  killed  by  a  random  shot  from  the  town, 
fired,  it  is  said,  by  Michael  Angelo.  His  soldiers,  by 
whom  he  was  much  beloved,  cruelly  avenged  him.  Tho 
city  was  taken  and  given  up  to  plunder.  During  nine 
months,  Rome  was  subjected  to  tortures  and  outrages 
which  even  the  Goths  and  Vandals  had  not  inflicted 
upon  her.  It  was  the  army  of  Charles  V.  which  pro- 
faned thus  the  capital  of  Christianity,  and  which  kept 
the  Pope  a  captive  in  St.  Angelo.  The  Emperor,  it  is 
ti-ue,  in  order  to  conceal  the  part  he  had  taken  in  this 
great  scandal,  caused  masses  to  be  said  for  the  deliver- 
ance of  the  Holy  Father;  but  the  robbers  were  only 
driven  from  their  prey  by  a  pestilence,  and  the  approach 
of  Lautrec,  who,  after  reducing  the  Milanese,  had  advanced 
rapidly  to  the  succour  of  the  Pope.  Of  the  numerous 
hosts  which  had  marched  to  the  sack  of  Rome,  scarcely 
500  survived  to  leave  it,  when  it  was  evacuated  about 
ten  months  after  the  capture.  Francis  accused  Charles 
V.  of  these  horrors,  by  which  the  latter  profited  whilst 
he  repudiated  them, 


fj 


Campaigns  of  Charles  V.  against  the  Turks.— After 

the  conclusion  of  the  peace  of  Cambi-ay  (1529),  which 
restored  to  the  two  sons  of  Francis  their  liberty,  and  to 
the  King,  their  father,  the  duchy  of  Burgundy,  Charles 
visited  Italy,  and  received  the  imperial  diadem  from  Pope 
Clement  VII.,  disposing  of  the  diflerent  states  of  Lom- 
bardy  to  various  princes  for  what  money  he  could  get. 
The  Turks  having  invaded  Hungary,  the  Emperor  marched 
against  them  in  person,  assisted  by  his  brother,  Ferdinand, 
and  compelled  the  Sultan  Soliman,  with  an  army  of 
300,000  men,  to  evacuate  the  country.  He  soon  after 
embarked  for  Africa,  to  replace  the  dethroned  Muley 
Hassan  in  the  sovereignty  of  Tunis  and  Algiers,  which 
had  been  usurped  by  Hayradin  Barbarossa,  and  he 
achieved  the  enterprise  with  honour.  His  reputation  at 
this  period  exceeded  that  of  all  the  sovereigns  of  Europe, 
both  for  political  ability,  for  real  power,  and  the  extent 
and  opulence  of  his  dominions;  but  he  had  a  hard  task 
upon  his  hands,  having  at  one  and  the  same  time  to 
guard  against  the  Turks  and  the  French,  and  the  latter 
both  on  the  noi-th  and  the  south. 

The  Lutheran  Party  styled  Protestants.— In  1529, 

a  diet  assembled  at  Spires,  where  the  princes  of  the 
empire  decided  by  a  majority  of  votes  that  Church  afiairs 
should  remain  as  they  were  until  a  general  council  could 
be  held.  The  Lutheran  princes  immediately  drew  up  and 
forwarded  to  the  Emperor  a  2>rotesty  from  which  cii-cum- 
stance  they  and  all  the  Lutheran  party  were  thenceforth 
styled  Protestants, 

The  Diet  of  Augsburg  (1530).— While  Charles  was 
engaged  in  the  Italian  wars,  the  opinions  of  the  Re- 
formers had  spread  rapidly  in  Germany.  While  at 
enmity  with  the  Pope,  the  Emperor  was  not  very  anxious 
to  discourage  them;  but  now  apprehending  danger  from 
them  to  tho  imperial  authority,  he  resolved  to  take 
measures  for  their  suppression.  The  Emperor  quitted 
Bologna,  in  the  close  of  March  1530,  for  Augsburg;  at 
which  the  confession  of  faith  of  the  Protestants  was  read 
and  defended  by  Melaucthon  and  others.     A  decree  was 


210 


HISIORY   OF   GERMANY.  [PERIOD  VI. 


issued  against  them,  and  coercive  measures  resolved  on. 
The  Protestant  princes  met  at  Smalcalde,  and  entered 
into  a  league  for  mutual  defence,  and  a  secret  alliance 
with  the  kings  of  France  and  England.  The  Turks  were 
now  menacing  Hungary,  and  Charles  saw  that  this  was 
no  time  for  violent  measures.  A  treaty  was  theretore 
concluded,  in  which  he  granted  the  Protestants  liberty  of 
conscience  till  the  meeting  of  a  general  council,  and  they 
engaged  to  assist  him  against  the  Turks. 


AUGSBURO. 

The  Emperor's  Brother,  Ferdinand,  Elected  King 
of  the  Romans  (1531).— The  Elector  of  Saxony  drew 
up  a  protest  against  the  election  of  Ferdinand  as  King 
of  the  Eomans  (to  whom  Charles  had  already  ceded  his 
Austrian  possessions),  which  was  presented  by  his  son, 
John  Frederick,  to  the  Emperor  at  Cologne,  whither  he 
had  proceeded  after  the  breaking  up  of  the  Diet  of  Augs- 
burg; but  it  produced  no  effect.  It  had  been  at  first 
contemplated   to  deprive  the  Elector  of  Saxony  of  his 


1519-1648.] 


INVASION   OF   HUNGARY. 


211 


vote,  as  a  heretic,  under  the  bull  of  Leo  X.;  but  the 
other  electoi-s  woukl  not  agree  to  a  stroke  which  might 
next  fall  upon  themselves.  The  five  Eoman  Catholic 
electors,  the  Palatine,  Brandenburg,  Mentz,  Treves,  and 
Cologne,  had  been  early  gained  ov^r  by  gifts  and  promises ; 
and  Ferdinand  himself,  as  King  of  Bohemia,  had  a  vote. 
He  was  elected,  January  5,  1531,  and  two  days  after- 
wards crowned  at  Aix-la-Chapelle.  In  his  capitulation 
he  pledged  himself  to  observe  the  recess  of  the  Diet  of 
Augsburg.  From  this  time  forwards,  Charles  left  tho 
government  of  Germany  mostly  to  his  brother,  requiring 
only  to  be  consulted  in  things  of  the  last  importance. 
The  latter,  however,  soon  found  that  the  new  title  did 
not  give  him  more  power  than  that  iDOSsessed  by  any 
other  prince  of  the  empire. 

Invasion  of  Hungary  by  the  Turks  —  The  Ana- 
baptists. —  Suliman  entered  Hungary  at  the  head  of 
200,000  men.  Charles  took  the  command  of  80,000 
foot  and  20,000  horse,  besides  a  vast  body  of  irregulars, 
near  Vienna  (1532).  The  Sultan  retired;  and  Charles 
returned  to  Spain,  and  engaged  in  a  successful  expedition 
against  Tunis.  While  he  was  absent  the  sect  of  the  Ana- 
baptists seized  on  the  city  of  Miinster,  and  defended  it 
for  some  time  courageously  against  the  troops  of  the 
bishop;  but  the  fanatic  Bockold,  who  had  assumed  the 
title  of  King,  and  Kiiip2)erdoling  were  taken  prisoners 
and  executed ;  their  corpses  being  suspended  in  iron  cages 
on  one  of  the  highest  towers  in  the  city  (1535). 

While  Charles  was  in  Africa,  Francis  revived  his  claim 
on  Italy.  The  King  of  England,  engaged  about  his 
divorce  from  Catherine  of  Aragon,  declined  having  to 
do  with  the  affairs  of  the  Continent;  and  the  League  of 
Smalcalde,  indignant  at  the  cruelties  inflicted  on  some 
Protestants  in  Paris,  refused  to  unite  with  Francis.  The 
latter  resolved,  even  without  allies,  to  venture  on  war, 
iinder  pretence  of  chastising  the  Duke  of  Milan  for  the 
murder  of  his  ambassador.  He  approached  Italy;  but 
instead  of  entering  the  Milanese,  he  seized  a  great  part 
of  the  dominions  of  the  Duke  of  Savoy,  who  appealed 


^Ll 


212 


HISTORY   OP   GERMANY.  [PERIOD  VI. 


1519-1648.] 


tllE  COtNClL   OF  TilEKT, 


213 


in  vain  to  Charles,  whose  exchequer  was  now  completely 
empty.  Meantime,  Sforza  died  without  issue,  and  the 
rights,  which  had  only  been  surrendered  to  him  and  his 
heirs,  returned  to  Francis.  Instead,  however,  of  entering 
at  once  on  the  duchy,  he  wasted  his  time  in  negotiation, 
while  Charles  took  possession  of  it  as  a  vacant  lief  of  the 
empire,  though  still  pretending  to  own  the  equity  of  the 
claims  of  the  French  monarch. 

The  Emperor  having  now  procured  sufficient  supplies 
of  money,  resolved  on  attempting  the  conquest  of  France. 
Having  driven  the  French  out  of  Savoy,  he  invaded  the 
southern  provinces  at  the  head  of  50,000  men.  Two 
other  armies  were  ordered  to  enter  Picardy  and  Cham- 
pagne. The  system  adopted  by  Francis  was  defensive. 
From  the  Alps  and  Dauphiny  to  Mai-seilles  and  the  sea 
the  country  was  laid  waste ;  strong  garrisons  placed  in 
Aries  and  Marseilles ;  one  French  army  strongly  encamped 
near  Avignon,  another  at  Valence.  After  fruitlessly  in- 
vesting Aries  and  Marseilles,  and  spending  two  months 
in  Prcn-ence,  Charles  retreated  with  the  loss  of  one-half  of 
his  troops  by  disease  and  famine.  An  attempt  by  Francis 
on  the  Low  Countries,  was  followed  by  a  truce  at  Nice, 
under  the  mediation  of  Pope  Paul  III.  (1538). 

Charles's   Disastrous    Expedition    against   Algiers 

/1541). The  Emperor  suppressed  an  insurrection  which 

had  broken  out  in  the  city  of  Ghent;  but  he  w:is  forced 
to  make  concessions  to  the  Protestants  in  Germany,  to 
gain  their  assistance  against  Suliman,  who  had  seized  a 
part  of  Hungary.  But  the  favourite  object  of  Charles 
was  the  conquest  of  Algiers;  and  in  the  end  of  autunin 
he,  contrary  to  the  advice  of  Doria,  his  admiral,  landed  in 
Africa  with  a  large  army;  but  tempests  scattered  his  fleet 
and  destroyed  his  soldiers,  and  he  was  forced  to  re-em]>ark, 
with  the  loss  of  the  gi-eater  part  of  his  men. 

In  1542,  the  war  between  the  rival  monarchs  broke 
out  anew.  The  Emperor  was  supported  by  the  King  of 
England  and  the  Protestant  princes,  to  whom  he  had 
made  further  concessions.  Francis  was  allied  v.  ith  the 
Kings  of  Denmark  and  Sweden,  and  he  renewed  the  treaty 


he  had  formerly  made  with  Suliman.  During  two  years 
France,  Spain,  Italy,  and  the  Low  Countries  were  the 
scenes  of  war;  but  the  only  battle  of  consequence  was 
that  of  Cerisolcs,  gained  by  the  French,  in  which  10,000 
Imperialists  fell.  A  peace  was  concluded  at  Crespi.  The 
chief  articles  were,  that  the  Emperor  should  give  one  of 
his  own  or  his  brother  Ferdinand's  daughters  to  the  Duke 
of  Orleans,  second  son  of  Francis,  and  with  her  the  duchy 
of  Milan,  and  renounce  all  claim  to  Burgundy;  Francis 
doing  the  same  to  Naples,  Artois,  and  Flanders;  and  that 
they  should  unite  against  the  Turks  (1544). 

The  Council  of  Trent. — Charles  and  the  Pope  being 
now  both  intent  on  putting  down  the  German  Protestants, 
the  Council  of  Trent  was  at  length  opened  for  the  de- 
spatch of  business  (December  13,  1545).  A  general 
council  had  always  been  regarded  as  affording  the  last 
chance  of  restoring  the  unity  of  the  Church,  and  when 
its  authority  was  rejected  by  the  Protestants,  no  alterna- 
tive seemed  left  but  an  ap})eal  to  arms.  That  extremity, 
which  might  have  crushed  Protestantism  when  in  its 
infancy,  had  been  hitherto  avoided.  Luther  did  not  live 
to  behold  these  scenes  of  violence.  At  the  very  time 
when  his  doctrines  were  imder  examination  at  Trent,  tho 
champion  of  Protestantism,  whose  strong  head  and  fear- 
less heart  had  thus  engaged  in  angry  and  anxious  discus- 
sion, as  over  their  dearest  interests  both  in  this  world 
and  the  next,  the  highest,  the  most  powerful,  and  the 
most  learned  men  in  Europe,  was  quietly  expiring  in  the 
obscure  little  town  that  gave  him  birth.  He  had  gone 
to  Eisleben  to  reconcile  a  quarrel  that  had  arisen  between 
the  Counts  Mansfeld;  and,  while  engaged  in  this  mission 
of  peace,  was  attacked  with  inflammation,  which  termi- 
nated his  life,  February  18,  1546,  at  the  age  of  sixty- 
three.  The  Elector  of  Saxony  caused  his  funeral  to  be 
celebrated  with  great  pomp.  A  few  months  later,  when, 
after  the  route  of  the  Protestant  army  at  the  battle  of 
^[uhlbcrg,  Charles  entered  Wittemberg  in  triumi)h, 
where  Luther*s  ashes  repose,  Aloa  advised  him  to  dis- 
inter and  burn  the  body  of  the  arch-heretic.     "  Let  him 


/ 


21^  HISTORY  OP   GERMANY.  [PERIOD  VI. 

rest,"  was  the  magnanimous  reply;  "he  lias  ai^peaved 
before  his  judge  ere  now— I  wai?e  war  with  the  livin*^. 
not  the  dead."  ° 


fj^^"^.^^^.:  .s 


VVITTEMliEKU. 


The  Religious  War— Struggle  for  Supremacy  be- 
tween France  and  the  House  of  Austria.— The  pro- 
gress  of  the  Reformation  had  hitherto  been  peaceful ;  we 
now  enter  upon  an  epoch  when  its  path  was  marked  by 
blood — a  catastrophe  foreseen  and  dreaded  by  Luther,  Init 
which  he  was  spared  from  witnessing.  For  a  period  of 
nearly  a  century,  our  attention  will  be  chiefly  arrested 
by  religious  wars,  which,  however,  are  often  combined 
with  a  gi^eat  political  movement  that  had  already  been 
initiated— the  struggle  for  supremacy  between  France 
and  the  House  of  Austria. 

One  of  the  terms  of  the  i>cace  of  Crespi  was  that  both 
sovereigns  engaged  themselves  to  destroy  Protestantism 
in  their  respective  dominions.  In  France  they  began  to 
fulfil  this  engagement  by  massacring  the  Protestjiiits  tn 
the  towns  of  Cabrieres  and  Merindol;  in  Germany  Charles 


1510-1G4S.] 


THE  I'REATY  OF   PASSAU, 


215 


proceeded  by  less  sanguinary  and  more  formal  means. 
The  Diet  of  Wonns,  in  1545,  passed  several  resolutions 
against  the  Protestants,  in  consequence  of  which  they 
rose  in  arms  in  1546,  under  Frederick,  Elector  of  Saxony, 
and  Philip,  Landgrave  of  Hesse.  Charles  defeated  them, 
and  took  tlie  two  princes  prisoners.  He  gave  the  elec- 
torate of  Saxony  to  Maurice,  a  kinsman  of  Frederick. 
Maurice  acted  with  consummate  skill,  so  as  to  deceive 
Charles  himself,  during  several  years,  as  to  his  real  inten- 
tions. He  appeared  to  side  with  the  Emperor,  fought 
bravely  for  him,  but  at  the  same  time  took  care  that  the 
cause  of  the  Protestants  should  not  be  rendered  totally 
desperate;  he  urged  Charles  to  liberate  the  Landgrave  of 
Hesse,  who  was  his  father-in-law,  and,  on  Charles's  re- 
peated refusals,  he  entered  into  secret  correspondence  with 
tlie  other  Protestant  princes  to  be  ready  to  rise  at  a  given 
signal.  At  last,  in  1552,  Maurice  threw  off  the  mask,  by 
taking  the  field  at  the  head  of  the  Protestant  confederacy, 
and  was  very  near  surprising  the  Emperor  at  Innspruck. 

The  Treaty  of  Passau— Its  effect  upon  Protestantism. 

— Maurice  was  detained,  after  a  successful  assault  upon 
the  imperial  camp  at  Pteuti,  by  a  mutiny  in  one  of  his 
regiments.  A  day  was  losb  by  this  disturbance,  which 
enabled  Charles  to  make  his  escape  by  fleeing  to  the  Alps 
in  a  litter,  in  the  midst  of  a  dark  rainy  night.  He  now 
illustrated,  in  his  own  fortunes,  the  truth  of  the  words 
with  which  he  had  taunted  John  Frederick  ;in  1547. 
The  Emperor,  so  lately  more  absolute  than  any  since 
the  Swabian  line,  was  compelled  to  fly  night  and  day,  in 
his  weak  and  ailing  condition,  across  the  rugged  mountain 
roads  which  lead  from  Innspruck  to  Villach.  ^  He  was 
menaced  with  captivity,  in  retribution  for  that  in  which 
he  had  so  long  detained  the  two  unfortunate  princes;  he 
was  stung  with  the  successful  treachery  of  his  favourite; 
and,  in  the  decline  of  life,  he  was  condennied  to  see  the 
hopes  of  a  re-union  in  the  Church  rudely  dashed  to  the 
ground.  The  Council  of  Trent  broke  up,  and  did  not  re- 
assemble. A  conference  was  held  at  Passau :  the  terms 
proposed  in  the  name  of  the  prmccs  of  the  empire  were 


^^^  History  op  Germany.  [period  ti. 

rejected  by  the  Emperor.  Maurice  laid  siege  to  Frank- 
tort,  and  tlie  haughty  spirit  of  Charles  was  forced  to  bend. 
Ihe  treaty  of  Passau  overthrew  the  fabric  he  had  so  lon^^ 
been  raising,  and  placed  the  Protestant  religion  of  Gei^- 
many  on  a  secure  basis. 

Such  is  the  sum  of  the  treaty  of  Passau,  the  second 
decided  advance  made  by  the  tenets  of  the  Eeformation, 
It  the  provisional  truce  of  Nuremburg  may  be  considered 
as  the  first.  Philip  of  Hesse  was  liberated  from  his  con- 
linement  at  Louvain.  He  was  received  at  tlie  frontiers 
ot  Hesse  by  his  sons  and  councillors.  Sorrows  had  broken 
down  h];s  health  and  whitened  his  liair,  although  he  was 
still  m  middle  age.  It  must  have  been  a  touching  si^'ht 
to  have  witnessed  his  progress  through  liis  dominions, 
amid  the  acclamations  of  his  subjects,  who  had  experienced, 
even  from  his  prison-house,  the  wise  rule  of  their  sove- 
reign; and  to  have  seen  him  kneeling  in  the  church  of 
Cassel  by  the  tomb  of  his  f^iithful  consort. 

Death  of  Maurice  of  Saxony  (1553).— And  Maurice 
soon  passed  away  from   the  scene.     Charles,  after  the 
pacification,  had  commenced  a  devastating  war  in  Lor- 
raine; but  after  in  vain  attempting  to  reduce  Metz,  which 
was  defended  by  the  Duke  of  Lorraine  with  the  greatest 
gallantry,  he  was  compelled,  in  January  1552,  to  abandon 
the  campaign,  which  had  been  one  of  unparalleled  suflb- 
mg  and  horror.     Hostilities,  however,  were  i)rolon-cd 
m  the  Netherlands  with  every  atrocity,  until  the  truco 
of  Vaucelles  in  1556.     But  the  bloodthirsty  Albert  of 
l^randenburg,  unable  to  live  in  an  atmosphere  of  com- 
parative purity,  after  the  siege  of  Metz  had  been  raised, 
commenced  a  series   of  atrocities  in  Franconia,  which 
evoked  the  allied  hostility  of  Maurice  and  Ferdinand. 
Uiey  met  at  Sievershauson,  on  the  Weser,  on  July  1), 
105 J.    Albert  was   defeated,   bub  Maurice  died  of  hia 
wounds  two  days  afterwards. 

Thus  perished  Maurice  of  Saxony,  a  traitor,  in  tlie 
worlds  opinion,  to  his  kinsman,  his  country,  and  his 
sovereign;  yet  by  his  instrumentality  did  Providence 
comx^lete  the  first  stage  of  the  holy  work  of  the  Eeformu. 


1519-lGlS.] 


CHARLES   V.    ABDICATES. 


217 


1 


tion.     Albert,  the  antagonist  of  Maurice,  after  a  defeat 
by  Henry,  Duke  of  Brunswick,  died  in  1557. 

Thus  we  have  seen  the  Reformation  in  its  birth  brinir- 
ing  together  the  princes  and  cities  of  the  empire  as  friends 
or  foes,  and  recognised  at  last  by  a  formal  Act.  But  this 
is  but  the  history  of  its  childhood;  we  have  yet  to  con- 
sider its  progress  and  difficulties  from  the  peace  of  Ausjs- 
burg  (called  the  "  Peace  of  Beligion,'*  for  it  was  the 
foundation  of  religious  freedom  in  Germany),  until  its 
triumph  in  1648.  And  this  stage  will  divide  itself  into 
two  parts;  the  first  containing  the  silent  seeds  of  change 
and  quarrel,  until  the  reign  of  Rodolph  IL;  the  second, 
the  fiery  maturity  of  these  evil  seeds,  fomented  by  the 
contest  of  the  rival  principles  embodied  in  Spain  and  her 
minion  Austria,  and  in  France  and  her  subsidiary,  Sweden. 

The  Marriage  of  Philip  of   Spain  and   Mary  of 

England. — In  1554,  Philip,  Charles's  son,  married  Mary 
Tudor,  Queen  of  England,  upon  which  occasion  his  father 
made  over  to  him  the  crowns  of  Naples.     In  1555,  Joanna 
of  Spain  died,  having  been  insane  for  nearly  fifty  years. 
Charles  V.  Abdicates  (1555)— His  Death  (1558).-^ 

Charles  being  now  nominally,  as  well  as  in  reality,  solo 
King  of  the  Spanish  monarchy,  put  in  efiect  a  resolution 
which  he  had  formed  for  some  years  before.  A  month 
subsequently  to  the  conclusion  of  the  Religious  Peace  of 
Augsburg,  Charles  V.,  in  an  assembly  of  the  estates  at 
Brussels,  on  the  25th  of  October  1555,  appeared  seated 
between  his  son,  Philij),  and  his  two  sisters,  the  widowed 
fiueens  of  Bohemia  and  of  France,  and  solemnly  resigned 
to  his  son  his  paternal  dominions  of  Burgundy,  Brabant, 
and  the  Netherlands,  releasing  his  subjects  in  those 
countries  from  their  allegiance  to  himself,  and  commend- 
in  cj  to  them  the  service  of  his  successor.  After  this 
solemn  transfer,  the  sovereign  of  so  many  and  fair  posses- 
sions rose,  and  leaning  on  the  Prince  of  Orange  for  sup- 
l)ort,  as  he  was  suffering  severely  from  the  gout,  addressed 
the  audience  to  the  following  effect :  "  Ever  since  the  age 
of  seventeen,"  he  said,  "  he  had  devoted  all  his  thoughts 
and  exertions  to  i)iiblic  objects,  seldom  reserving  any 


:5c 


215 


HISTORY  OF   GERMANY.  [PERIOD  VI. 


1519-1648.] 


FERDIKAXD   I.    OF   AUSTRIA. 


219 


portion  of  his  time  for  the  indulgence  of  ease  or  pleasure. 
Nine  times  have  I  visited  Germany,  Spain,  six  times, 
Italy,  seven  times,  Flanders,  ten  times:  twice  have  I 
been  in  England,  and  also  in  Africa.  I  have  crossed 
the  North  Sea  four  times,  and  made  eight  voyages  to  tho 
Mediterranean.  Wars  I  have  undertaken  from  compul- 
sion rather  than  choice:  but  no  hardship,  no  exertion 
which  I  have  undercjone  has  caused  pangs  equal  to  those 


CHARLES  v.  (From  the  original  hy  Holheln). 
which  I  now  feel  in  bidding  you  f\irewell;  but  my  f^iiling 
strength  tells  me  that  there  is  no  choice.  I  am  not 
so  fond  of  reigning  as  to  wish  to  retain  the  sceptre  with 
a  powerless  hand!"  He  added  that  ''  if,  in  the  course  of 
a  long  administration,  he  had  committed  errors — as  what 
young  man  has  not? — from  want  of  experience,  and  from 
tho  common  weakness  of  humanity,  I  solemnly  declare 


that  I  have  never,  knowingly  or  purposely,  injured  or 
connived  at  the  injury  of  any  person.  If  there  be,  indeed, 
any  who  can  bring  against  me  just  ground  for  complaint, 
I  entreat  him  to  pardon  my  errors  and  injustice."  Then 
turning  to  Philip,  he  gave  him  some  salutary  advice, 
especially  to  respect  the  laws  and  the  liberties  of  his  sub- 
jects; after  which,  exhausted  with  fatigue  and  emotion, 
he  closed  this  impressive  scene.  Two  weeks  after  he  made 
over  to  Philip,  with  the  same  solemnity,  and  before  a 
large  assembly  of  Spanish  grandees  and  German  princes, 
the  crowns  of  Spain  and  the  Indies.  In  the  following 
year  (August  1556),  he  likewise  resigned  the  imperial 
crown  to  his  brother,  Ferdinand,  who  had  already  been 
elected  King  of  the  Romans  and  his  successor;  and  after 
visiting  his  native  place,  Ghent,  he  embarked  for  S})uin 
with  a  small  retinue.  On  landing  at  Laredo,  in  Biscay, 
he  kissed  the  ground,  saying,  "  Naked  I  came  out  of  my 
mother's  womb,  and  naked  I  return  to  thee,  thou  common 
mother  ot  mankind."  In  February  1557,  accompanied 
by  one  gentleman  attendant  and  twelve  domestics,  ha 
retired  to  the  monastery  of  St.  Yuste.  of  the  Hieronymite 
order,  situated  near  Plasencia,  in  Estremadura,  in  a 
sequestered  valley  at  the  foot  of  the  Sierra  de  Gredos, 
where  he  caused  apartments  to  be  prepared  for  him.  There 
ho  lived  for  about  eighteen  months,  employed  either  in 
his  garden,  or  in  contriving  works  of  ingenious  mechanism, 
and  occasionally  diverting  himself  with  literature.  In 
the  last  six  months  of  his  existence,  his  body  becoming 
more  and  more  enfeebled  by  repeated  fits  of  the  gout,  his 
mind  lost  its  energy,  and  he  fell  into  gloomy  reveries,  and 
tJie  practice  of  ascetic  austerities.  Among  other  things 
he  had  his  own  funeral  obsequies  pei-formed  in  the  chapel 
of  the  monastery  (August  30,  1558).  The  fatigue  and 
excitement  of  this  ceremony,  in  which  he  took  part, 
brought  on  a  fit  of  fever,  which  in  about  three  weeks 
carried  him  off;  he  died  on  the  21st  of  September  1558, 
in  his  fifty-ninth  year. 

Terdinand  I.  of  Austria,  younger  brother  of  Charles 
v.,  was  born  in  1503.     Elected  King  of  the  Eomans 


220 


HISTORY   OF    GERMANY.  [PERIOD  VI. 


daring  liis  brother  s  reign,  lie  succeeded  him  as  Emperor 
in  consequence  of  the  abdication  of  Charles,  which  was 
sanctioned  by  the  Diet  of  the  empire  in  1558.     It  was 
indeed  singular  that  a  prince,  the  cii'cum stances  of  whose 
position,  in  the  neighbourhood  of  his  melancholy  mother, 
and  of  his  grandfather  exclusively  occupied  with  worldly 
schemes,  seemed  to  i)romise  but  inauspiciously  for  his 
welfare,  should,  in  his  more  advanced  years,  have  dis- 
played so  rare  a  combination  of  sagacity  and  activity; 
that  educated  and  long  resident  in  Spain,  he  should  be 
able  to  adopt  the  habits  and  feelings  of  his  future  empire. 
The  change  in  the  behaviour  of  Ferdinand  may,  in  a  great 
measure,  be  attributed  to  his  keen-sighted  ambition.     The 
earlier  years  of  his  residence,  as  the  vicegerent  of  his 
brother,  in  Austria,  were  neither  productive  of  popularity 
to  himself,  nor  passed  in  harmony  with  Charles.     The 
inhabitants  munnured  at  his  severity  and  exactions,  and 
Ferdinand  himself  was  anxious  to  exchange  his  uncom- 
fortable position  in  Austria  for  the  sovereignty  of  the 
recent  conquest  of  Milan,  which  Charles  was  disinclined 
to  grant.     After  his  elevation  to  the  title  of  King  of  the 
llomans,  these  jealousies  and  heartburnings  gave  place 
to  vigorous  and  cordial  co-operation  with  his  brother  in 
atfairs  of  state.    No  ditlerences,  no  separate  views  of  policy 
disturbed  their  harmony;  tlie  reserved  and  stately  bearing, 
the  unbending  coldness  and  severity  of  the  elder  brother, 
the  cheerfulness,  condescension,  and  leniency  of  theyounger 
being  but  the  expression  of  their  individual  temperaments. 
Ferdinand  had  married,  in  1521,  Anna,  daughter  of 
Ladislaus  VI.,  King  of  Bohemia  and  Hungary,  and  sister 
of  Louis,  who  having  succeeded  his  father  in  the  crown 
of  those  realms,  was  killed  in  the  disastrous  battle  of 
]\[ohacz,  by  the  Turks,  in  152G,  and  left  no  issue.     Fer- 
dinand, claiming  a  right  to  the  succession  in  the  name  of 
his  wife,  the  states  of  Bohemia  acknowledged  him;  but 
in  Hungary  a  strong  party  declared  for  John  of  Zapoli, 
Palatine  of  Transylvania.     This  was  the  beginning  of  a 
long  and  desolating  war,  interrupted  by  occasional  truces, 
in  which  Suliman,  Sultan  of  the  Turks,  interfered  on  be- 


1519-1G48.] 


RELIGIOUS   DISSENSIONS. 


221 


half  of  John,  and  after  John's  death,  in  1540,  on  behalf 
of  liis  son,  Sigismund.  In  Bohemia  the  religious  disputes 
between  the  Callixtines,  who  were  a  remnant  of  the 
Hussites,  and  the  Boman  Catholics,  occasioned  consider- 
able vmeasiness  to  Ferdinand,  who  found  at  last  that  it 
was  his  policy  to  tolerate  the  former.  At  the  same  time, 
however,  he  effected  a  thorough  change  in  the  institutions 
of  that  kingdom,  by  declaring  the  crown  of  Bohemia  here- 
ditaiy  in  his  family,  without  the  sanction  of  the  States. 
This  gave  rise  to  a  confederacy  which  opposed  Ferdinand 
by  force  of  arms,  but  was  overpowered  and  dissolved. 

On  being  i)roclaimed  Emperor  of  Germany,  after  having 
signed  certain  conditions  with  the  elector,  which  defined 
the  boundaries  of  the  imperial  authority,  and  gave  security 
to  the  Protestant  religion,  Ferdinand  notified  Ids  election 
to  Pope  Paul  IV.,  expressing  a  desire  to  be  crowned  by 
his  hands.  Paul  refused,  under  the  plea  that  the  abdica- 
tion of  Charles  V.  w\as  effected  without  the  consent  of 
the  Papal  See,  and  required  a  fresh  election  to  be  made. 
Ferdinand,  indignant  at  these  pretensions,  ordered  his 
ambassador  to  quit  Rome.  Paul,  however,  dying  soon 
after,  his  successor,  Pius  IV.,  showed  himself  more  tract- 
able in  acknowledging  Ferdinand  as  head  of  the  empire. 
It  was  then  resolved  by  the  electors,  Boman  Catholic  as 
well  as  Protestant,  that  in  future  no  Emperor  should 
receive  the  crown  from  the  hands  of  the  Pope,  and  that 
instead  of  the  customary  form  in  which  the  Emperor-elect 
professed  his  obedience  to  the  head  of  the  Church,  a  mere 
complimentary  epistle  should  be  substituted.  Thus  ended 
the  last  remains  of  that  temporal  dependence  of  the 
German  Empire  on  the  See  of  Bome,  which  had  been  the 
subject  of  so  many  controversies  and  wars. 

Religious  Dissensions. — Ferdinand  continued  through- 
out his  reign  to  hold  the  balance  even  between  the  Pro- 
testants and  Boman  Catholics  with  regard  to  their  mutual 
toleration  and  outward  harmony ;  he  even  endeavoured, 
though  unsuccessfully,  to  effect  a  union  of  the  two  com- 
munions, by  trying  to  persuade  the  Protestants  to  send 
deputies  to^  and  acknowledge  the  authority  of  the  Council 


222 


HISTORY    OF   GERMANY.  [PERIOD  VI. 


1519-1648.] 


MAXIMILIAN   II. 


223 


assembled  at  Trent.  This,  however,  they  refused  to  do, 
unless  their  theologians  were  acknowledged  as  equal  in 
dignity  to  the  Roman  Catholic  bishops,  and  unless  the 
Council  were  transferred  from  Trent  to  some  city  of  the 
empire.  The  Lutheran  church  had  delivered  itself  from 
the  yoke  of  Home,  and  the  Lutheran  princes  made  them- 
sel  ves  almost  entirely  independent  of  the  Emperor.  Could 
they  have  agreed  among  themselves,  they  might  have 
spread  the  blessings  both  of  civil  freedom  and  sound 
religious  knowledge,  as  far  as  the  German  tongue  was 
spoken.  But  the  Protestants,  instead  of  making  common 
cause  against  the  arrogance  of  Rome,  were  disputing  with 
each  other  about  the  various  tenets  of  Luther,  Zwinirli. 
and  Calvin.  In  Prussia,  society  was  shaken  to  its  founda- 
tion by  the  contentions  of  the  rival  sects,  headed  by 
Osiander  and  Morlin.  The  Council  of  Trent,  abandoning 
all  hopes  of  an  accommodation,  now  applied  itself  solely 
to  such  measures  as  were  likely  to  be  available  to  retain- 
ing in  the  Church  those  who  still  belonged  to  the  com- 
munion. Some  abuses,  such  as  the  immorality  of  the 
clergy  and  the  sale  of  indulgences,  were  in  a  gi*eat 
measure  removed.  But  the  supremacy  of  the  Papal  See 
\vas  asserted  more  vehemently  than  before,  and  any  de- 
parture from  the  tenets  now  promulgated  as  the  decision 
of  the  Church  was  forbidden  on  pain  of  excommunication. 
Since  that  time  there  has  never  been  a  reasonable  hope 
of  reconciliation  between  the  Church  of  Rome  and  the 
Protestants.  Ferdinand,  in  order  to  conciliate  some  at 
least  of  the  dissenting  sects  in  his  own  hereditary  states, 
attempted  to  obtain  of  the  Pope,  among  other  concessions, 
the  use  of  the  cup  at  the  communion  table  for  the  laity, 
and  the  liberty  of  marriage  for  the  priests.  Pius  IV., 
however,  would  not  listen  to  the  latter  proposition,  and 
the  negotiations  were  still  pending  with  regard  to  the 
former,  when  the  Emperor  died  at  Vienna,  in  July  1564. 
He  left  three  sons:  1,  Maximilian,  who  succeeded  him 
as  Emperor,  Archduke  of  Austria,  and  King  of  Bohemia 
and  Hungary;  2,  Ferdinand,  whom  he  made  Count  of 
Tyrol;  3,  Charles,  whom  he  appointed  Duke  of  Styria, 


Carinthia,  and  Carniola.  Upon  the  whole  the  admini- 
stmtion  of  Ferdinand  was  able  and  enlightened;  he  main- 
tained religious  peace  in  Germany,  he  effected  some  useful 
reforms,  and  he  saw  the  closing  of  the  Council  of  Trent. 

From  this  time  the  House  of  Austria  was  divided  into 
two  great  branches,  the  successors  of  Charles  V.,  or  the 
Spanish  branch,  and  those  of  Ferdinand,  or  the  German 

branch. 

Maximilian   H. — Towards  the  close  of  his  life,  Fer- 
dinand began  to  be  anxious  for  the  settlement  of  the 
succession.    This  wish  had  led  to  the  elevation  of  his  son 
Maximilian  to  the  dignity  of  King  of  the  Romans  (1562) 
during  the  first  year  of  the  proceedings  at  Trent.     Few 
princes  have  been  personally  characterised  in  terms  of 
approbation  so  unqualified  as'^those  applied  to  Maximilian 
which  do  not,  after  a  close  and  severe  scrutiny,  appear  to 
have  been  exaggerated.     His  ])ersonal  appearance  bore 
the  stamp  of  talent  and  honesty,  his  address  was  frank, 
his  manners,  in  the  opinion  of  many,  erred  on  the  side 
of  indiscreet  and  undistinguishing  familiarity,  and  his 
accomplishments  were  varied  and  considerable;  for  he 
was  well  read  in  history,  a  practical  chemist,  and  pas- 
sionately fond  of  music,  a  science  which  he  thoroughly 
understood.     His  acquaintance  with  the   languages   of 
Europe  was  extraordinary  in  every  way.     For  a  period 
of  three  years  he  had  governed  Spain  to  the  satisfaction 
of  his  uncle  Charles,  by  whose  daughter,  Mary,  he  had 
sixteen  children.     But  neither  did  his  affection  and  ad- 
miration for  his  noble  uncle,  nor  his  residence  in  Spain, 
nor  the  strong  attachment  of  his  consort  to  the  religion 
and  habits  of  that  country  (to  which,  after  her  widow- 
hood,   she   retired),    exercise   any    prejudicial    influence 
upon  Maximilian's  warm  and  kindly  temperament.     In 
his  policy  as  regarded  the  empire,  it  was  his  constant 
aim  to  preserve  the  religious  peace,  which  was  never 
more  threatened  than  during  his  reign.     Because  he  had 
so  much  attachment  to  the    Lutheran  doctrines  as  to 
receive  the  communion  under  both  kinds,  and  detested 
persecution,  though  he  remained  in  the  bosom  of  the 


224 


HISTORY   OP   GERMANY.  [PERIOD  \I. 


1519-1C48.]  SIGISMUND   AND   THE  TURKS. 


225 


Catliolic  ChurcL,  he  had  great  influence  with  botli 
parties.  Listening  with  patience  to  the  comi)laints  of 
both,  and  being  able  to  show  both  that  they  were 
wrong— the  Roman  Catholics  in  seeking  to  pei-secute 
the  Lutherans  of  their  states,  the  Lutherans  in  clamour- 
ing for  the  abolition  of  the  ecclesiastical  reservtition— 
he  persuaded  them,  for  the  common  good,  to  refrain  from 
open  hostility.  He  even  protected  the  Calvinists,  who 
w^ere  hated  by  the  Lutherans  even  more  than  by  the 
Roman  Catholics,  so  far  as  to  prevail  on  his  own 
brethren  not  to  join  in  the  persecution. 

Maximilian's  policy  towards  the  Elector  Palatine, 
Fredeiick  IIL— Frederick  III.,  Elector  Palatine,  had 
quitted  Lutheranism  for  Calvinism;  and  so,  by  the  com- 
pact concluded  between  the  Catholics  and  the  followei^ 
of  Luther,  had  forfeited  all  claim  to  toleration.  Both 
called  for  his  deposition;  but  he  was  a  powerful  prince; 
he  had  all  his  co-religionists  throughout  Europe  at  his 
disposal;  and  his  valour  Avas  celebrated.  Knowing  that  a 
civil  war  might  even  wrap  Europe  in  flames,  Maximilian, 
by  detaching  the  Catholics  from  the  confederacy,  left  tlie 
odium  of  the  persecution  to  the  Lutherans  alone;  and 
they,  fearful  alike  of  the  imputation  and  of  the  con- 
sequences of  weakening  the  Protestant  cause,  reluctantly 
consented  to  remain  at  peace.  Had  his  representations, 
indeed,  to  the  Papal  See  obtained  the  attention  which 
they  deserved,  he  would  have  effected  more  in  this  re- 
spect than  any  of  his  predecessors.  By  several  popes,  the 
use  of  the  cup  had  been  granted  to  the  Bohemians,  the 
Austrians,  and  such  of  the  Germans  as  insisted  on  it. 
He  besought  the  Pope  to  proceed  a  step  further— to  con- 
cede the  power  of  marrying  to  the  clergy — and  asserted 
that,  by  this  judicious  concession,  the  Catholic  Church 
would  be  more  benefitted,  and  the  Lutheran  more  injured, 
than  by  all  other  measures.  This,  he  contended,  was  a 
mere  matter  of  discipline  which  did  not  in  the  slightest 
degree  affect  the  tenets  of  the  church.  But  Paul  V.  was 
inexorable.  He  had  no  wish  to  call  another  Gmnd 
Council  so  soon  after   that  of  Trent  hod  recorded  ita 


^lll 


solemn  approbation  of  clerical  continoncy.  He  would  not 
hear  of  any  attempt  to  unite  the  two  parties;  all  that  re- 
mained, he  observed,  for  the  Protestants,  was  uncondi- 
tional submission  to  the  decrees  of  the  late  council.  He 
severely  condemned  every  effort  to  conciliate  them ;  and 
threatened  the  Emperor  with  deposition  if  he  ventiu-ed, 
like  Charles  V.,  to  sit  in  judgment  on  matters  of  faith  or 
discipline.  Maximilian  was  even  required  to  revoke  the 
toleration  which  he  had  granted  to  his  subjects  of  Bohemia 
and  Austria;  but  he  evaded  compliance,  and  by  so  doing 
secured  himself  a  tranquil  and  happy  reign. 

Once,  indeed,  the  public  peace  was  in  danger  of  being 
disturbed,  but  not  by  religious  feuds.  William  de  Grum- 
bach,  one  of  the  free  nobles  of  Franconia,  procured  the 
assassination  of  Melchior,  bishop  of  Wurtzburg;  besieged 
the  city;  forced  the  cliaj)ter  to  capitulate;  and,  to  escape 
punishment,  prevailed  on  John  Frederick,  duke  of  Gotha, 
to  give  him  an  asj'lum.  Grumbach,  the  duke,  and  all 
their  adlierents,  who  were  preparing  to  sustain  their 
rebellion,  were  placed  under  the  ban  of  the  empire :  the 
execution  of  the  decree  was  entrusted  to  the  Elector  of 
Saxony:  Gotha  was  taken;  the  dethroned  prince  confined 
for  life  to  an  Austrian  prison;  and  Grumbach,  with  the 
more  active  accomplices,  was  put  to  death.  The  celerity 
with  which  this  private  war  was  quelled,  was  owing  to 
the  efficiency  and  prompt  resolution  of  the  Diet  of  Dejiu- 
tation — an  institution  owing  to  the  able  and  j)atriotic 
father  of  Maximilian. 

John  Sigismund  and  the  Turks.— The  public  tran- 
quillity was  disturbed  in  Hungary  only.  John  Sigismimd 
still  contended  for  the  crown;  and,  aided  by  his  constant 
allies  the  Turks,  whom  he  thus  criminally  introduced 
into  the  kingdom,  he  was  enabled  to  maintain  his  ground. 
When  Maximilian  ascended  the  throne,  the  aspect  of 
affaire  in  the  East  was  lowering.  Suliman  was  arming 
with  the  resolution  of  subjugating  the  whole  country  to 
the  very  gates  of  Vienna.  But  his  mighty  jireparations 
ended  in  nothing:  before  a  little  fortress  he  lost  20,000 
men;  and  anxiety,  fatigue,  no  less  than  the  j^estilential 


2-^  HISTORY   OF   GERMANY.  [PERIOD  VI. 

marshes,  soon  brought  liim  to  the  grave.  Selini,  who 
succeeded,  being  anxious  to  turn  the  Mohammedan  arms 
against  Cyprus,  concluded  a  truce  with  the  Emperor; 
though  John  Sigismund  refused  to  be  comprehended  in' 
It,  the  successes  of  Maximilian  soon  compelled  him  to 
sue  for  peace.  He  retained  the  princii)ality  of  Transyl- 
vania,  but  renounced  the  regal  title  to  Hungary. 

Maximilian's  waning   Influence   and   Death.— The 

bestowal  of  his  daughters,  Anne  and  Elizabeth,  in  mar- 
riage, upon  Philip  II.   of  Spain   and    Charles   IX.   of 
France,  during   1570,  hardly  tended  to  increase  Maxi- 
milians waning   influence  in  those  Catholic  countries, 
ihe  ensuing  years  passed  in  war  and  bloodshed  therein 
called  forth  fruitless  exjn'essions  of  soitow  from  the  Em- 
peror.    He  lamented  that  his  son-in-law,  the  Kin*^  of 
France,  should  have  been  so  far  misguided  as  to  sanction 
the  massacre  of  St.  Bartholomew;  and  he  mourned  over 
the  desolation  and  ruin  caused  in  the  Netherlands  by  the 
bigoted  counsellors  of  Philip  II.    His  attempts  at  media- 
tion at  the  Congress  of  Breda,  in  March  1575,  were 
unavailing.     Nor  was   Maximilian   more   successful   at 
home.    Years  of  peace  and  tranquillity,  during  which  the 
religious  divisions  could  have  been  most  effectually  healed, 
passed  away,  and  the  remainder  of  his  reign  was  spent  in 
fruitless  and   irritating   discussions.     Through   the   un- 
christian divisions  of  the  Protestants,  no  positive  con- 
cessions were  made,  and  the  i)oints  in  dispute  were  left 
to  a  future  amicable  adjustment. 

Amid  this  mockery  died  Maximilian  (Oct.  12,  1570) 
The  future  justified  the  boding  predictions  of  bloodshed 
and  tyranny  which  accompanied  the  decease  of  this,  the 
noblest  among  the  rulei-s  whom  the  House  of  Hapsburc/ 
had  supplied  to  the  imperial  throne.  Maximilian  was  a 
great  prince,  a  Christian  philosopher,  scholar,  and  patriot. 
He  had  the  rare  good  fortune  of  being  praised  by  Catholic 
and  Protestant,  by  Austrian  and  Bohemian,  by  German 
and  Hungarian.  That  such  a  prince  should  have  little 
^culty  in  procuring  the  election  of  his  son  Rodolf  as 
King  of  the  Romans^  was  to  be  expected; 


1519-1648.]      TABLE   OF   CONTEMPORARY   SOVEREIGNS.      227 


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228 


HISTORY  OF  GERMANY.  [PERIOD  VI. 


1510-1048.] 


tlODOLF   II. 


229 


Rodolf  II.  (1567-1612).— For  the  first  time  since  the 
Hapsburg  family  came  into  possession  of  the  Austrian 
territories,  Rodolf,  as  Maximilian's  eldest  son,  obtained 
the  sole  possession  of  his  paternal  dominions,  while  his 
brothers,  instead  of  having  a  joint  share  in  the  govern- 
ment, were  provided  with  annual  pensions.  This  change, 
whether  arranged  during  the  reign  of  Maximilian  II.,  or 
effected  by  a  family  compact  between  his  heirs,  established 
the  right  of  primogeniture  in  the  House  of  Austria,  which 
has  remained  ever  since. 

Rodolf  II.  ascended  the  throne  under  the  most  favour- 
able circumstances.     The  wise  administration  of  his  im- 
mediate predecessor  had  attached  the  whole  empire  to  his 
house.    Lutheran  and  Catholic,  before  so  ready  to  quarrel, 
were  reconciled  to  toleration;  and  the  imperial  authority 
was  regarded  by  both  as  the  only  means  of  preserving  the 
public  peace,  and  of  resisting  the  tide  of  invasion  from  the 
East.     Yet,  with  all  these  advantages,  few  reigns  have 
been  more  unfortunate.     Rodolf  II.  was  very  different 
from  his  father.     A  bigot  by  education  and  sentiment, 
he  had  neither  the  power  nor  the  wish  to  conciliate  the 
Protestants;  hence  the  religious  animosities  which  dis- 
tracted the  empire,  and  which  laid  the  foundation  of  the 
disasters  that  happened  in  the  succeeding  reign.     Rodolf 
(at  his  accession  twenty-four  years  of  age),  had  spent  much 
of  his  youth  at  the  Court  of  Spain.     His  solitary  habits, 
idle  studies,  and  Romanist  predilections  had  given  con- 
siderable uneasiness  to  his  father,  and  the  justice  of  these 
suspicions  seemed  confirmed  by  his  attempts  to  curtail 
the  religious  liberty  which  had   been  conceded  to  the 
Protestants  of  Austria.     Protestant  education  was  to  be 
suspended,  and  Romanist  worship  enjoined  in  the  cities 
of  the  hereditaiy  estates,  which,  in  the  absence  of  Rodolf 
at  Prague,  were  at  that  time  governed  by  his  brother, 
Ernest.     Further  innovations  equally  unfavourable  were 
introduced.    But  the  Protestants,  on  the  other  side,  were 
guilty  of  many  acts  of  indiscreet  and  indecorous  violence, 
which  called  for  vigorous  interference  on  the  part  of  the 
government. 


- J55t 


Dissensions  of  the  Lutherans    and    Calvinists. — 

Governed  by  favourites,  Rodolf  II.  had  no  judgment  of 
his  own.  Without  judgment,  without  firmness,  without 
any  defined  system,  he  was  assuredly  not  the  sovereign 
adapted  for  this  turbulent  country,  at  a  time  when  two 
fearful  principles  were  struggling  for  the  supremacy.  The 
inveterate  hatred  which  now  distinguished  the  Reforaiers 
themselves,  which  placed  the  disciple  of  Luther  in  open 
hostility  with  the  follower  of  Calvin,  afforded  Rodolf  the 
j)rospect  of  weakening  and  ultimately  of  subjugating  both. 
At  this  day,  when  the  mild  influence  of  toleration  has 
smoothed  the  rugged  features  of  sectarian  zeal,  we  do  not 
always  form  an  adequate  idea  of  these  dissensions.  The 
same  province  often  exhibited  two  successive  Protestant 
rulers  dissimilar  in  creed,  and  each  resolved  to  secure  his 
preponderance  of  his  own  creed  by  the  extirpation  of  the 
rival.  Thus,  in  the  Palatinate,  Frederick  III,  was  a  rigid 
Calvinist,  and,  like  every  other  person  of  that  persuasion, 
intolerant :  by  force  he  introduced  the  Genevan  creed,  and 
allowed  no  liberty  of  public  worship  to  the  Lutherans. 
His  son,  Ludovic,  who  was  no  less  attached  to  the 
doctrines  of  Luther,  banished  the  Calvinistic  preachers, 
and  fully  restored  the  Lutheran  worship  as  settled  by  the 
f/onfession  of  Augsburg.  After  the  death  of  Ludovic, 
during  the  minority  of  his  son,  Frederick  lY.,  John  Casi- 
mir,  the  nearest  agnate  on  whom  devolved  the  regency, 
again  expelled  the  Lutherans,  and  reinstated  the  Cal- 
vinists. In  Saxony,  the  case  was  nearly  the  same;  and 
in  other  parts  of  the  empire,  especially  in  the  imperial 
cities,  the  same  alternations  of  triumph  and  expulsion 
befel  the  two  creeds.  No  one  thought  of  toleration, 
which,  in  the  vocabulary  of  the  day,  meant  indifference. 

On  the  whole,  however,  the  Protestants  had  reason  to 
complain;  so  that  we  need  not  wonder  at  their  frequent 
remonstrances  before  Emperor  and  Diet ;  nor,  when  these 
failed  of  effect,  that  they  should  unite  for  the  suppoi-t  of 
their  religious  lights.  But  in  these  times  there  was  no 
medium :  from  self-defence,  they  passed  to  every  species  of 
annoyance;  nor,  in  their  fierce  burning  enthusiasm,  did 


230 


HISTORY   Ot   GERMANY.  [PEtllOD  VI. 


1519-1648.]        MISGOVERNMENT   OF   RODOLF   II. 


531 


they  pay  the  slightest  attention  to  their  duties  as  citizens 
or  reasonable  men.  When  supplies  were  demanded  for 
the  war  against  the  Turks,  who  were  thundering  on  the 
frontier,  they  were  sullenly  refused :  nay,  even  the  refor- 
mation of  the  Calendar  by  Gregory  XII.— one  of  the 
greatest  boons  astronomical  science  ever  presented  to 
mankind  —  was  equally  scouted,  on  the  principle  that 
everything  emanating  from  Rome  was  accursed;  and 
though  the  Catholic  states  successively  adoj^ted  the  new 
computation,  the  Protestant,  with  characteristic  pertina- 
city, adhered  to  the  old  one,  monstrously  erroneous  as 
they  knew  it  to  be,  down  to  the  opening  of  the  eighteenth 
century.  Nor  did  their  criminal  folly  end  here.  Appre- 
hensive least  they  should  be  unable  to  withstand  the 
Roman  Catholic  states,  sustained  as  the  latter  would 
]>robably  be  by  the  Spanish  branch  of  the  Austrian  house, 
they  placed  a  foreigner,  Henry  IV.  of  France,  at  the  head 
of  their  confederation,  and  instigated  their  brethren  in 
Austria  and  the  Low  Countries  to  rise  against  their  re- 
spective governments.  On  the  other  hand,  Rodolf  per- 
sevei'ed  in  his  impolitic  course  of  exasperating,  instead  of 
conciliating,  the  dissidents. 

Civil  Dissensions  Ruin  the  Trade  of  Germany  (1582). 
— Such  was  the  lamentable  aspect  of  affairs  purely  reli- 
gious :  the  civil  was  scarcely  more  promising.  Germany, 
almost  isolated  at  this  period  from  the  rest  of  Europe, 
was  the  scene  of  few  political  events  of  any  importance. 
A  diet  had  been  held  in  Augsburg  in  1582,  for  the 
purpose  of  deciding  on  the  policy  proper  to  be  jnirsued 
with  regard  to  the  frontiers  on  tlie  side  of  Holland,  now 
violated  by  the  levies  and  incursions  of  the  factions  con- 
tending in  that  quarter.  Time  was  wasted  in  discussions, 
irreconcilable  demands  were  put  foward  in  turn  by  either 
party,  nor  were  they  convinced  of  the  folly  of  their  con- 
duct, until  the  arrival  of  intelligence  of  the  blockade  of 
the  Rhine  by  the  Hollanders,  a  measure  which  completed 
the  ruin  of  the  declining  trade  of  Germany. 

Eccentricities  and  Misgovernment  of  Rodolf. — It  is 
no  ungrounded  fancy  which  would  assign  an  hereditary 


unsoundness  of  intellect  to  many  members  of  the  House 
of  Hapsburg.  Of  such  a  malady  there  is  sufficient  proof 
in  the  life  of  an  unfortunate  Joanna,  the  mother  of  Charles 
v.,  and  the  history  of  the  later  kings  of  the  line  in  Spain 
is  a  melancholy  corroboration  of  the  truth  of  this  assertion. 
Many  of  the  evils  of  Germany  at  the  time  may  be  traced 
to  the  wretched  government  of  Rodolf.  He  lived  shut 
up  in  his  palace  of  Prague,  surrounded  by  toys  and  gew- 
gaws, alembics  and  crucibles.  On  these  vanities,  and  the 
greedy  professors  of  mystic  arts,  he  wasted  money,  and 
health,  and  time.  To  gain  access  to  the  Emperor  was 
a  task  of  great  difficulty.  It  is  even  said  that  foreign 
ambassadors  were  obliged  to  assume  the  dress  of  grooms 
that  they  might  meet  him  in  liis  visits  to  his  stud  of 
Spanish  and  Arabian  horses,  in  which  he  took  great 
delight.  But  even  here,  either  his  morbid  fears  of  assas- 
sination, or  dislike  to  appearing  in  public,  inteifered  to 
prevent  him  from  employing  in  the  chase  or  parade  his 
expensive  acquisitions.  These  pi^oceedings  did  not  pass 
unheeded  by  his  brother,  the  Archduke  Matthias,  a  man 
of  restless  ambition,  and  lax  principles  of  honour  and 
faith. 

The  reign  of  Rodolf  was  now  rapidly  drawing  to  its  close. 
Stung  by  the  sense  of  his  own  powerless  and  degraded 
condition,  he  attempted  to  secure  the  assistance  of  the 
Protestants  of  Austria,  dissatisfied  as  were  these  last  with 
the  treachery  of  Matthias,  and  to  draw  a  force  together 
for  the  purpose  of  settling  upon  his  brother,  Leopold,  who 
had  remained  faithful  to  him  in  all  his  distresses,  the 
succession  of  his  hereditary  kingdoms.  But  this  attempt 
on  the  part  of  Rodolf  only  ended  in  arousing  the  suspicions 
and  fears  of  the  Bohemians,  and  in  drawing  upon  himself 
the  forces  of  Matthias.  The  unfortunate  prince  was  com- 
pelled, during  May  1611,  to  abdicate  Bohemia,  Silesia, 
and  Lusatia;  and  Matthias  was  crowned  at  Olmutz  with 
gi-eat  splendour,  in  the  ensuing  September.  Consistent 
in  treachery,  he  sullied  the  moment  of  his  triumph  by  a 
fruitless  attmnpt  at  fraud;  and  the  closing  years  of  his 
own  short  and  dishonourable  reign  were  justly  darkened 


-^^  HISTORY  OF   GERMANY.  [PERIOD  VI. 

by  the  insult,  violence,  and  oj^position  of  an  ungrateful 
kinsman.  The  decease  of  Eodolf  took  i)lace  on  January 
13,  1G12.  ^  ^ 

Matthias  (1G12-1619).— The  annals  of  the  few  years, 
during  which  the  imperial  crown  was  worn  by  Matthias, 
are  full  of  divisions  and  abuses,  and  teem  with  the  most 
extravagant  expressions  of  party  spirit.  They  were  fitting 
precursors  to  the  times  of  bloody  waifare,  which  it  will 
be  our  task  soon  to  narrate;  and  which  will  be  best 
iishered  in  by  a  brief  survey  of  the  state  of  Germany 
during  the  seven  years  of  the  nominal  sway  of  Matthias. 


1519-1648.] 


THE   ELECTOR  OF   SAXONY, 


233 


THE  ELECTOR   OF  SAXONY. 

State  of  Germany  in  1612-1G19.— King  of  Hun^^aiy 

and  Bohemia,  Matthias  had  little  difficulty  in  procunnrr 

the  suflrages  of  the  electors  for  the  imperial  crown.    As^ 

however,  no  King  of  the  I'vomans  had  been  elected  duriii^' 

o 


I 


the  preceding  reign,  there  was  a  short  interregnum,  which, 

in  the  agitated  state  of  the  times,  was  remarkable  for  one 

circumstance.     The  vicariat  of  the  empire,  or  hereditary 

dignity,  devolved  on  two  Protestants :  the  one,  the  Elector 

of  Saxony,  a  Lutheran;  the  other,  the  Count  Palatine, 

Duke  of  Neuberg,  a  Calvinist.    To  these  men  the  Catholic 

States  refused  obedience;  and  it   consequently  became 

necessary  to  choose  a  sovereign  with  the  least  possible 

delay.    The  reign  of  Matthias  exhibits  the  same  animosity 

on  the  part  of  the  religious  rivals,  as  had  disgraced  that 

of  his  predecessor.    The  affairs  of  the  three  duchies,  which 

was  oiiginally  a  civil,  but  which  the  passions  had  turned 

into  a  religious  question,  alike  continued  to  harass  the 

court  and  country.     The  Elector  of  Saxony,  who  had 

witnessed  the  usurpation  of  all  three,  obtained  from  the 

present  Emperor  the  confirmation  of  his  claim  ;  but  rather 

a  claim  of  participation  than  of  sole  administration.    The 

two  princes,  however,  who  were  in  actual  possession  of 

the  greater  portion,  refused  to  surrender  it,  or  to  admit 

liini  into  the  government  of  these  provinces.     With  the 

view  of  uniting  two,  at  least,  of  the  concurrent  claimants, 

a  marriage  was  contracted  between  the  Count  Palatine 

(the  Duke  of  Neuberg),  and  the  daughter  of  the  Elector 

of  Brandenburg.     But  one  day,  while  over  their  cups,  the 

latter  gave  his  intended  son-in-law  a  sound  box  on  the 

car;  the  duke,  in  revenge,  joined  the  Catholic  Church 

and  league,  and  married  the  daughter  of  the  Bavarian 

duke.       Thus,    affairs   were    complicated,   and   religious 

animosity  increased,   worse    than    before.     The    French 

and  Dutch  had  before'  advanced  to  assist  the  Protestant 

claimants ;  the  Spaniards  were  now  introduced  to  support 

the  new  convert.     With  the  same  policy  the  Elector  of 

Brandenburg   forsook  Lutheranism  for   Calvinism,   and 

obtained  the   aid   of  the  Dutch,  under   the  Prince   of 

Orange.     Whoever  reads  with  attention  the  transactions 

of  this  period,  must  perceive  that  worldly  views  were 

more  powerful    than   religious   considerations  with  the 

leaders   on   both    sides.     The    Imperial    Court  was   not 

likely  to  regard  with  much  favour  men  who,  on  every 


234 


HISTORY   OF   GERMANY.  [PERIOD  VI. 


occasion,  refused  the  supplies  necessary  for  the  defence  of 
the  empire,  and  for  the  internal  administration.  Hence 
the  rigour  with  which  the  Aulic  Council  acted  towards 
Buch  of  the  dissidents  as  were  compelled  to  bring  their 
causes  before  it.  But  the  Evangelical  Union  gradually 
acquired  strength.  In  1614,  it  hoped  to  acquire  more  by 
the  marriage  of  its  youthful  head,  Frederick  V.,  Elector 
Palatine,  with  Elizabeth,  daughter  of  James  I.  of  England. 
It  could  not  foresee  that  this  very  prince  would  do  more 
fco  injiu-e  the  Protestant  cause,  than  the  bitterest  of  its 
enemies.  In  Bohemia,  the  year  preceding  the  death  of 
Matthias,  religious  hatred  burned  more  fiercely  than  ever. 
The  Archbishop  of  Prague  and  another  dignitary,  in- 
censed that  the  dissidents  should  continue  to  build 
conventicles  on  their  own  domains,  demolished  a  few. 
Instantly  the  latter  were  in  arms;  and,  though  the  con- 
duct of  the  two  ecclesiastics  was  approved  by  the  Emperor 
and  by  Ferdinand,  who  had  just  then  been  elected  King 
of  the  Romans  and  crowned  King  of  Bohemia  (Matthias 
had  no  issue),  they  were  not  discouraged;  they  were 
formidable  in  the  kingdom,  and  they  were  sure  of  support 
from  the  Protestant  rulers  of  the  empire,  and  of  the  Low 
Countries.  One  of  their  first  objects  was  characteristic  of 
Bohemians — to  hurl  the  royal  governor  of  Prague  and 
his  secretary  from  the  windows  of  the  municipal  hall. 
To  this  violence  they  were  led  by  Count  Thurn,  a  Pro- 
testant, a  man  of  great  ambition,  and  who  had  to  revenge 
his  dismissal  by  the  Court  from  a  distinguished  civil  office. 
Though  Matthias  promised  ample  toleration,  and,  indeed, 
a  redress  of  many  other  grievances,  they  would  not  be 
pacified.  Moreover,  Silesia  and  Upi>er  Austria  joined  its 
dissidents  to  them;  the  Evangelical  Union  of  Halle  sent 
troops;  and  the  war  became  general,  though  desultory. 
In  virtue  of  his  recent  alliance,  the  rash  and  inexperienced 
Elector  Palatine  aimed  at  the  Bohemian  crown,  and  was 
secretly  assured  of  aid  from  the  princes  of  the  Union. 
Hostilities  raged  on  every  side :  nor  could  they  be  sup- 
pressed by  the  Emperor,  wlio,  though  mild,  was  unpopular; 
or  by  Ferdinand,  who,  though  King  of  Hungary  no  less 


1519-1648.] 


THE   THIRTY  YEARS*   WAR* 


235 


than  of  Bohemia,  covdd  not  bring  a  force  of  any  amount 
into  the  field.  In  this  posture  of  affairs,  Matthias  died 
— an  event  not  likely  to  restore  tranquillity,  as  the  King 
of  the  Romans  was  perfectly  detested  by  the  Protestant 
party.  The  causes  of  the  Thirty  Years*  War — one  of  the 
most  disastrous  that  ever  afflicted  a  country — were  in  full 
operation.  A  contest  of  principles  no  less  than  of  per- 
sonal ambition  was  about  to  commence — one  which  shook 
Europe  to  its  extremities,  and  must  be  remembered  so 
Ions:  as  books  remain  to  record  it. 

o 

THE   THIRTY   YEARS*    WAR. 

Ferdinand  II.  of  Austria  (1619-1637),  son  of  Charles, 
duke  of  Styria,  and  grandson  of  Ferdinand  I.,  succeeded 
his  cousin,  Matthias,  in  1619.  Ferdinand's  position  at 
the  time  of  his  accession  seemed  dark  and  hopeless.  It 
was  indeed  a  season  of  imminent  peril  for  Austria.  Less 
dangerous  in  reality  than  some  humble  schemes  which 
were  then  in  agitation,  the  designs  of  the  leaders  of  the 
Union  portended  the  total  overthrow  of  the  German 
branch  of  the  House  of  Hapsburg.  It  was  i^'oposed  to 
elevate  to  the  imperial  dignity  the  Duke  of  Savoy,  who 
had  supplied  to  the  Count  of  Mansfeld  the  troops  with 
which  that  child  of  discord  was  engaged  in  opposing  the 
Imperialists  in  Bohemia,  A  second  scheme  was  that  of 
raising  the  young  Elector  Palatine  to  the  throne  of 
Bohemia.  The  States  of  Bohemia,  contending  that  Fer- 
dinand had  broken  his  compact  with  them,  declared  the 
throne  vacant.  All  Bohemia,  except  one  fortress,  was 
soon  in  possession  of  the  insurgents,  of  whom  all  were 
dissidents;  in  fact,  three-fourths  of  the  kingdom  were 
said,  at  this  time,  to  favour  some  sect  of  the  Reformation. 
Moravia  and  Silesia  were  equally  firm  in  the  new  faith, 
and  in  the  resolution  of  establishing  the  liberties  of  the 
country  on  some  better  foundation  than  a  tyrant's  will. 
Upper  Austria,  which  had  as  many  discontented  inhabi- 
tants as  there  were  dissidents,  received  Count  Thorn  with 
applause.  Vienna  itself,  where  the  King  then  was,  was 
invested  by  the  insurgents;  who  threatened  to  execute 


236  filSTORY  OF   GERMANY.  [PERIOD  VI. 

• 

his  ministers,  to  confine  him  within  the  walls  of  a  monas- 
tery, and  to  educate  his  children  in  the  Protestant  fViith. 
Foi-tunately,  he  was  relieved  from  his  jieriloiis  situation 
by  the  unexpected^  arrival  of  a  pai-tizan,  and  the  siege 
was  raised.     Of  this  circumstance  he  took  advantage,  by 
hastening   into  Germany  to  claim  the  imperial  crown, 
which,  he  hoped,  would  so  far  augment  his  influence  as 
to  enable  him  to  triumph  over  his  rebellious  subjects. 
He  carried  his  election  by  means  of  the  Roman  Catholic 
electors,  who  formed  the  majority.     But  the  Bohemian 
States  elected  as  their  King,  Frederick,  Count  Palatine, 
son-in-law  of  James  I.  of  England,  and  Hungary  joined 
in  the  revolt,  supported  by  Bethlem  Gabor,  Prince  of 
Transylvania.    Nor  was  the  act  less  foolish  than  disloyal, 
since  this  vain,  weak,  and,  as  the  result  proved,  cowardly 
prince,  had  no  talents  for  the  station.     It  was,  indeed, 
expected  that,  by  the  aid  of  his  father-in-law,  James  I.  of 
England,  of  his  relation,  the  Prince  of  Omnge,  and  other 
Protestant  rulers,  he  should  be  able  to  withstand  his 
enemies;  but  no  hope  was  ever  more  unfounded.     James 
had  too  much  respect  for  the  authority  of  kings  to  en- 
courage rebellion,  even  in  the  husband  of  his  daughter; 
and  he  earnestly  attempted  to  dissuade  Frederick  from  an 
enterprise  which  he  was  resolved  not  to  suppoi-t.    On  tho 
other  hand,  Frederick  was  encouraged  to  persevere  by 
Christian  of  Anhalt,  who  had  been  a  kind  of  tutor  to 
him;  as  well  as  by  his  minister,   Camerarius,  and  his 
wife,  the  Princess  Elizabeth.    The  latter  especially,  whose 
violent  and  ambitious  character,  combined  with  consider- 
able talent,   has  procured  for  her  the  reputation  of  a 
princess  of  spirit,  vehemently  incited  him  to  the  enter- 
prise; and  is  said  to  have  asked  him  why,  as  he  had  had 
courage  enough  to  woo  a  king's  daughter,  he  had  none  to 
stretch  out  his  hand  and  seize  a  sceptre  which  seemed 
ofiered  to  him  by  heaven?     Frederick  himself,  now  onlv 
twenty-two  years  of  age,  was  naturally  ambitious;    in 
temper  gnxve,  melancholy,  and  jiroud,  so  that  he  would 
eat  in  company  with  none  but  jninces.    It  may  be,  too, 
that  the  doctrine  of  predestination,  which  formed  part  of 


1519-1648.] 


TUE  THIRTY  YEARS'   WAR, 


237 


his  faith,  had  some  influence  in  determining  his  judgment; 
his  wife,  at  least,  appears  to  have  used  that  argument 
with  him.  Thus,  by  his  own  weakness,  the  ambition  of 
his  consort,  and  the  injudicious  advice  of  his  friends,  he 
was  lured  to  his  destruction.  Towards  the  end  of  Oct. 
1G19,  he  proceeded  to  Prague,  and  there  solemnly  received 
the  Bohemian  crown. 

Circumstances  seemed  at  lirst  to  f^ivour  the  ambitious 
enterprise  of  Frederick,  but  the  result  was  such  as  re- 
quired little  proi)hecy  to  foresee.    Though  he  was  received 
with  open  arms  by  the  dissidents ;  though  he  found  that 
most  of  Hungary,  instigated  by  the  same  restless  spirit, 
had   thrown   off  the  yoke   of  Ferdinand;    though   the 
Austrian  States  were  again  overrun  by  the  Protestant 
generals;  and  the  Evangelical  Union  refused  any  suc- 
cours to  the   Emperor,  who  was  insultingly  advised  to 
make  peace  with  the  new  Bohemian  King;  he  was  little 
able  to  contend  with  a  prince  so  constant  in  adversity,  so 
persevering  in  purpose,  so  fertile  in  resources,  as  the  head 
of  the  Austrian  House.     Ferdinand  was  aided  by  the 
King  of  Spain,  by  the  Archduke  Albert,  governor  of  the 
Netherlands,  and   the  Catholic  princes  of  the  empire. 
Spinola  led   24,000  men  from  the  Low  Countries  and 
ravaged  the  Palatinate.     Yet  though  Frederick  had  still 
the  numerical  superiority,  he  contrived  to  disgust  both 
his  Catholic  and  his  Lutheran  subjects  by  his  Calvinistic 
fanaticism,  and  to  render  all  but  a  desperate  sect  luke- 
warm in  his  cause.     In  a  few  days  he  was  expelled  from 
a  kingdom  which  he  had  not  courage  to  defend  or  wisdom 
to  conciliate.    Defeated  at  Prague  by  the  Duke  of  Bavaria, 
he  and  his  adherents  were  put  to  the  ban  of  the  empire. 
Never  was  defeat  or  flight  more  inglorious.     This  royal 
puppet  had  the  mortification  to  find  his  hereditary  state 
occupied  by  the  Bavarian  and  imperial  troops ;  nor  could 
he  find  any  place  of  safety  until  he  reached  the  Low 
Countries.     Count  Tilly,  Ferdinand's  general,  completed 
the  conquest  of  the  Palatinate;  Frederick  was  degraded, 
and  his  dignity  of  Elector  conferred  on  the  Duke  of 
Bavaria  (1022). 


238 


HISTORY  OF   GERMANY.  [PERIOD  VI. 


Tills   unexpected  success— for  which   Ferdinand  was 
chiefly  indebted   to  the    extraordinary  abilities   of  the 
ferocious  Count  de  Tilly,  a  name  only  inferior  to  that  of 
Wallenstein  in  the  annals  of  the  Thirty  Years*  War — 
was  the  prelude  to  others  of  even  greater  brilliancy.     In 
consternation  at  the  triumph  of  their  opponents,  the  Pro- 
testant States  of  Lower  Saxony  began  to  dmw  closer  the 
relaxed  bonds  of  their  union,  and  to  importune  for  aid 
the  Kings  of  England,  Sweden,  and  Denmark.    Ambition, 
rather  than  love  of  religion,  induced  Christian  IV.  of 
Denmark  to  arm,  and  place  himself  at  the  head  of  the 
confederates,  whose  rnnks  were  increased  by  some  English, 
Scotch,  and  Dutch  adventurers  (1625).     To  oppose  him, 
Ferdinand  sent  with  Tilly  another  commander  of  extra- 
ordinary abilities — Wallenstein;  men  whom  merit  alone 
i-aised  from  humble  fortunes  to  the  very  summit  of  glory. 
In  two  campaigns  the  Protestant  States  were  subdued;  and 
the  Danish  King  was  not  only  expelled  from  the  empire, 
but  taught  to  tremble  for  his  hereditary  dominions,  until 
the  treaty  of  Lubeck  (1G29)  restored  peace  between  the 
two  parties. 

Unfortunately,  if  Ferdinand  was  great  in  adversity, 
he  was  overbearing  in  prosperity.  He  now  adopted 
measures  of  retaliation  which  drove  the  Protestants  to 
despair.  He  abolished  the  exercise  of  the  Protestant 
religion  in  Bohemia;  he  exiled  or  put  to  death  the 
leaders  of  that  and  other  dissident  communions ;  he  con- 
fiscated their  property;  700  noble  families  were  pro- 
scribed, and  the  common  people  were  forced  to  change 
their  faith.  Above  30,000  families,  prefemng  their  con- 
sciences to  their  country,  sought  refuge  in  the  Protestant 
states. 

Ferdinand  intended  to  carry  on  the  same  sweeping 
measures  throughout  Germany,  but  here  he  adopted  a 
more  cautious  plan.  He  began  by  dividing  the  Lutherans 
from  the  Calvinists,  and  he  called  for  the  execution  of  a 
former  act  which  allowed  to  the  Lutherans  only  the  free 
exercise  of  their  religion,  but  condemned  the  Calvinists 
to  apostacy  or  exile.     He  also  insisted  on  the  restitution 


1519-1G48.]     GUSTAVUS   ADOLPHUS   OF   SWEDEX< 


239 


of  such  ecclesiastical  property  as  the  Protestants  had  seized 
since  the  treaty  of  Passau  in  1532.  The  Protestants  re- 
monstrated; a  Diet  was  held  at  Ratisbon;  the  majority  of 
the  Catholic  princes  were  for  quieting  them;  the  spiritual 
electors  seconded  the  views  of  the  Emperor.  The  Pro- 
testants, to  escape  the  meditated  robbery,  formed  a  secret 
alliance  with  Gustavus  Adolphus,  King  of  Sweden. 

Gustavus  Adolphus  of  Sweden. — Gustavus  was  a 
prince  of  the  highest  military  and  civil  talents;  he  was 
animated  by  a  rational  zeal  for  the  Protestant  religion, 
and  he  saw  through  the  Emperor's  project  of  extending 
his  dominions  over  the  Baltic.  Various  other  reasons 
combined  to  induce  him  to  engage  in  war.  Cardinal 
Richelieu,  then  minister  in  France,  desirous  to  check  the 
power  of  the  House  of  Austria,  engaged  to  give  him  an 
annual  subsidy  of  1 ,200,000  livres.  Charles  I.  of  England 
allowed  6000  men  to  be  raised  in  the  name  of  the  Marquis 
of  Hamilton,  to  aid  the  King  of  Sweden,  and  numerous 
English  and  Scottish  volunteers  crowded  to  his  standard. 

Gustavus  disembarked  in  Pomerania.  The  Protestant 
princes  were  at  first  fearful  of  joining  him;  but  his  well- 
timed  decision  towards  the  Elector  of  Brandenburg  ended 
their  hesitation.  Being  joined  by  the  Saxons,  he  advanced 
towards  Leipzig,  where  Tilly  lay,  who  advanced  into  the 
plain  of  Buitenfeld  to  meet  him.  The  numbers  on  each 
side  were  about  30,000;  but  Tilly's  troops  were  all 
veterans.  The  Saxons,  being  raw  troops,  fled  at  the  first 
onset;  the  skill  of  Gustavus  and  the  valour  of  the  Swedes 
gained  a  complete  victory  (1G31). 

The  King  of  Sweden  quickly  made  himself  master  of 
the  whole  country  from  the  Elbe  to  the  Rhine.  The 
Elector  of  Saxony  entered  Bohemia  and  took  Prague. 
Tilly,  in  disputing  the  passage  of  the  Lech  with  the 
Swedes,  was  killed.  Gustavus  took  Augsburg,  marched 
into  Bavaria,  and  entered  Munich.  Wallenstein  had 
meanwhile  recovered  Prague.  The  King  of  Sweden 
offered  him  battle  near  Nurnburg;  Wallenstein  declined 
it:  a  furious  attack  was  for  ten  hours  made  on  his  en- 
trenchments, and  the  Swedes  were  repulsed  with  great 


240 


HISTORY  OP   GERMANY.  [PERIOD  VI. 


loss.  Soon  after,  hearing  tliat  Wallenstein  had  trans- 
ferred his  camp  to  Liitzen,  Gustaviis,  tlioiigh  it  was  the 
depth  of  winter,  and  the  imperial  forces  greatly  exceeded 
his  in  number,  resolved  to  seek  and  engage  him.  The 
battle  which  ensued  is  one  of  the  hardest  fought  recorded 
in  history.  It  lasted  from  daybreak  till  night ;  the  King 
of  Sweden  fell  in  the  midst  of  the  conflict.  Night  alono 
pi*e vented  the  victory  of  the  Swedes  being  complete  (Nov. 
1,  1632). 

Death  of  Gustavus  Adolphus. — Thus,  at  the  gi-eat 
battle  of  Liitzen,  ended  the  life  of  Gustavus  Adolphus, 
one  of  the  best  men  who  ever  wore  a  crown.  His  deatli 
cast  a  gloom  over  the  Protestants;  they  fell  into  factions; 
the  Roman  Catholics  were  elated  at  the  fall  of  their 
powerful  enemy.  In  Madrid,  Rome,  Munich,  Vienna, 
and  Brussels,  public  thanksgivings  and  rejoicings  took 
place,  to  commemorate  the  great  delivemnce.  But  thougli 
he  left  his  kingdom  exposed  to  the  troubles  of  a  minority 
— his  daughter,  Christina,  being  only  in  her  seventh  year 
— the  war  was  vigorously  prosecuted  by  the  Regent  Oxen- 
stiern,  a  man  of  great  ability,  who,  with  the  Duke  of  Saxe- 
AYeimar  and  Generals  Banier  and  Horn,  prosecuted  it 
witli  vigour. 

The  Assassination  of  Wallenstein. — An  event  now 

occurred  seemingly  calculated  to  advance  the  Protestant 
cause.  The  Emperor,  whether  justly  or  not  is  doubtful, 
suspecting  the  fidelity  of  Wallenstein,  and  fearing  to 
deprive  him  of  his  command,  had  him  secretly  assas- 
sinated. But  the  loss  of  his  genius  was  supplied  by  a 
large  accession  of  Spanish  and  other  troops,  and  by  the 
junction  of  the  Dukes  of  Lorraine  and  Bavaria.  That 
the  policy  of  Ferdinand  was  sufficient  to  sow  jealousy  and 
dissension  among  the  leformed  princes ;  tliat  the  victory 
gained  by  the  imperial  general  at  Nordlingen  counter- 
balanced all  the  i)rior  advantages  of  the  Protestants, 
equallmg  in  brilliancy  the  glorious  deeds  of  Gustavus; 
that  this  general,  the  Archduke  Ferdinand,  eldest  son  of 
the  Emperor,  who  had  been  crowned  King  of  Hungary 
and  Bohemia,  pursued  the  advantage;  that  in  1G35,  the 


1519-1G4S.] 


FERDINAND   III. 


241 


:| 


Elector  of  Saxony,  in  a  treaty  at  Prague,  was  reconciled 
to  the  Emperor;  that  the  junction  of  the  imperial  and 
Saxon  troops  against  the  Swedes  and  the  Protestant 
states  of  the  empire  gave  a  preponderance  to  the  cause, 
which  no  efforts  of  the  reformed  league,  aided  by  the 
intrigues  of  England,  Holland,  and  France,  was  able  to 
counteract;  that  all  the  members,  excei)t  the  Landgrave 
of  Hesse-Cassel,  convinced  of  the  fruitlessness  of  resist- 
ance, adhered,  one  by  one,  to  the  pacification  of  Prague 
— thus  engaging  to  expel  the  Swedes,  to  whom  they  were 
indebted  for  their  restoration  to  their  civil  privileges ; 
and  that  when  Ferdinand  died  in  1637,  two  months  after 
witnessing  the  election  and  coronation  of  his  son  as  King 
of  the  Romans,  he  had  the  satisfjiction  to  know  that  none 
but  foreigners — the  Swedes  and  their  allies  the  French 
— were  seriously  intent  on  perpetuating  the  troubles  of 
the  realm. 

Character  of  Ferdinand  II. — Of  Ferdinand  II.  it 
need  only  be  said  that,  if  he  was  a  cruel  bigot ;  if  he 
was  sometimes  perfidious — witness  his  connivance  at  the 
assassination  of  Wallenstein — he  was  generally  swayed 
by  conscientious  motives,  was  regular  in  his  habits,  pure 
in  his  morals,  constant  in  adversity,  persevering  in  every 
purpose,  comprehensive  in  his  views,  just,  liberal,  and, 
whenever  his  religious  prejudices  were  not  concerned, 
merciful.  Had  he  been  less  subservient  to  mistaken 
notions  of  religious  duty,  he  would  have  been  every  way 
worthy  of  the  throne,  for  his  was  an  imperial  mind. 

Ferdinand  IIL  (163G-1648),  King  of  Bohemia  and  of 
Hungary  succeeded,  in  virtue  of  his  election  as  King  of 
the  Romans,  to  the  imperial  throne  without  opposition. 
Opportunities  of  pacification  neglected,  the  war  of  thirty 
yeai^  was  no  continuous  strife.  There  were,  as  has  been 
seen  throughout  its  course,  breaks,  in  which  a  termination 
of  hostilities  seemed  to  be  unavoidable  or  expedient,  from 
the  relative  positions,  at  different  periods,  of  the  different 
parties.  But  these  were  neglected  or  despised ;  nor  was 
the  desired  ratification  of  peace  published  until  eight  years 
had  been  expended  in  discussions,  wearisome  for  their 

9 


242 


HISTORY    OF   GERMANY.  [PERIOD  VI. 


length,  complicated  from  the  number  of  parties  engaged, 
teeming  with  matters  of  petty  and  contemptible  etiquette, 
with  instances  of  jealousy  and  rapacity,  of  treachery  and 
imbecility.  The  bloody  scenes  which  have  been  before 
described  were  repeated,  and,  in  some  cases,  on  the  same 
fields.  New  leaders  arose  to  carry  on  with  the  same 
tactics  the  hostilities  bequeathed  them  by  their  prede- 
cessors, whom  excess,  or  the  fortune  of  war,  or  suspicious 
accident,  had  removed  from  their  command. 

Ferdinand  III.  found  the  Swedes  and  French  still  in 
possession  of  several  important  cities  of  Saxony,  and  pre- 
paring for  a  vigorous  campaign.  The  same  line  of  policy 
was  pursued,  and  the  war  was  accordingly  renewed  with 
fury.  The  Duke  of  Weimar  laid  siege  to  Rainfeld  ;  an 
imperial  army  advanced  to  its  relief,  and  was  totally 
defeated  by  the  duke ;  the  town  surrendered,  as  did  soon 
after  Brissac,  and  other  places  (1G38). 

While  Weimar  triumphed  on  the  Rhine,  Banier  was 
equally  successful  in  Pomerania;  he  reduced  several 
towns,  and  cut  to  pieces  some  of  the  imperial  troops. 

In  the  beginning  of  the  next  campaign,  the  Duke  and 
Banier  took  measures  for  penetrating  into  the  heart  of 
the  Austrian  dominions.  Banier  crossed  the  Elbe,  beat 
everything  that  opposed  him,  entered  Saxony,  and  totally 
defeated  the  Saxon  army  at  Chemnitz.  He  invaded 
Bohemia,  laid  the  country  under  contribution,  fell  on 
the  imperialists  under  General  Hofskirk  at  Brandeiz, 
and  pursued  them  to  the  walls  of  Prague.  He  then 
repassed  the  Elbe,  defeated  the  imperialists  at  Glatz,  and 
drove  the  Saxons  three  times  from  their  camp  at  Tirn. 

But  the  hopes  of  the  Swedes  were  almost  blighted  by 
the  loss  of  the  Duke  of  Saxe -Weimar,  who  died  at  this 
time,  in  his  thirty-sixth  year,  by  poison,  as  was  strongly 
suspected.  After  a  good  deal  of  contest  for  his  army,  it 
was  finally  taken  into  the  pay  of  the  King  of  France,  who 
thus  became  master  of  a  great  part  of  Alsatia  and  Brisgau. 
Under  the  command  of  the  Duke  of  Longueville  it  joined 
Banier  at  Erfurt;  but  the  Swede  found  his  genius  cramped 
by  their  presence,  and  was  no  longer  able  to  execute  his 


1519-1648.] 


DEATH   OF   BANIER. 


243 


bold  and  sudden  projects.  Driven  from  Bohemia  by  the 
imperialists  under  the  gallant  Archduke  Leopold,  Picco- 
lomini  and  Hatfeld,  Banier  laid  waste  Thuringia  in  the 
most  appalling  manner.  Effecting  a  junction  with  the 
French  army  under  Marshal  Guebriant  at  Neustadt,  they 
crossed  the  Danube  on  the  ice,  took  1500  of  the  imperial 
horse,  and  appeared  before  Ratisbon,  where  a  Diet  was 
then  assembled.  The  dismay  in  the  city  was  extreme. 
Ferdinand  alone  was  unmoved  by  the  general  panic;  and 
liis  firmness  and  feelings  of  shame  prevented  the  deputies 
from  seeking  safety  in  flight.  A  sudden  thaw  saved 
Ratisbon,  and  Banier  retreated,  after  throwing  five 
hundred  shots  into  the  town,  an  insult  that  enraged 
Ferdinand  beyond  measure. 

Retreat  and  Death  of  Banier.— After  the  attempt  on 

Ratisbon,  the  French  and  Swedes  separated.  Banier 
marched  through  Bohemia,  followed  by  Piccolomini  and 
Gleen.  He  conducted  his  retreat  in  a  most  masterly 
manner  to  Zickau,  where  he  was  again  joined  by  Guebriant, 
and  they  prepared  to  make  head  against  the  imperialists. 
But  this  daring  leader  died  at  Halberstadt  in  May,  in 
the  forty-fourth  year  of  his  age.  TJncourteous,  arrogant, 
cruel,  and  debauched,  he  owed  his  early  death  to  his 
excesses,  and  not  to  the  effects  of  poison,  as  was  supposed 
in  his  case,  as  in  that  of  the  Duke  of  Weimar.  His 
talents  as  a  commander  were  of  a  very  high  order.  Six 
hundred  standards,'^the  trophies  of  his  successes,  were 
carried  to  Stockholm;  and  80,000  of  the  enemy  are  said 
to  have  fallen  in  the  various  operations  in  which  he 
commanded. 

The  remainder  of  the  war  may  be  briefly  told.  Though 
ever  and  anon  renewed  with  fury,  nothing  decisive  for 
either  party  was  the  result.  If  to-day  one  prince  was 
seduced  from  his  allegiance  to  the  head  of  the  state,  on 
the  next  the  paternal  admonitions  of  the  Emperor  recalled 
him  from  his  wanderings.  If  victory  was  gained  one  day 
by  the  combined  Swedes  and  French,  assisted  by  the  open 
or  secret  wishes  of  some  Protestant  states,  it  was  neutral- 
ised on  another  by  an  equally  signal  advantage  to  the 


244 


HISTORY   OP   GERMANY.  [PERIOD  VI. 


imperial  troops.  But  this  harassing  wai-fare  was  severely 
felt  by  Germany.  The  excesses  committed  on  eveiy  side 
by  restless  and  ferocious  bodies  of  foreignei*s,  and  even 
by  natives,  destroyed  all  social  security,  and  made  even 
humble  individuals  tremble  for  their  persons  no  less  than 
their  substance.  The  whole  people  began  to  perceive, 
that  if  foreign  interests  gained  by  the  continuance  of 
the  war,  by  the  weakening  of  the  empire  and  its  head, 
Germany  was  rapidly  hastening  to  internal  ruin — probably 
to  subjugation  by  France  and  Sweden.  Not  merely  the 
greatness,  the  existence  of  the  empire  was  in  jeopardy; 
and  this  conviction  spread  widely  and  deeply  among  the 
princes  and  states.  Such  as  had  been  most  corrupted  by 
the  gold  of  France,  or  the  promises  of  Sweden,  began  to 
join  the  demand  for  peace;  and  for  this  purpose  negotia- 
tions were  opened;  though  from  the  vicissitudes  of  the 
war,  from  the  consequent  elation  of  one  party  and  the 
depression  of  the  other,  years  elapsed  before  they  were 
brought  to  a  conclusion. 

At  length,  in  1648,  the  French  and  Swedes  were  every- 
where successful ;  the  Elector  of  Bavaria  and  other  princes 
were  forced  to  make  separate  peaces  with  them;  the 
Emperor  was  alone  exposed  to  them;  and  though  the 
Elector  of  Bavaria  had  again  joined  him,  the  victory  of 
Zummerhausen,  gained  by  Turenne  and  Vrangel,  and  the 
invasion  of  Bavaria  and  Bohemia,  compelled  him  to  think 
at  last  seriously  of  peace. 

The  Treaty  of  Westphalia  (1G48). — It  was  as  neces- 
sary to  reconcile,  as  it  was  to  disarm,  the  French  and 
Swedes ;  otherwise  the  same  causes  of  disunion  would 
eternally  operate  and  infallibly  terminate  in  the  destruc- 
tion of  the  confedemte  body — of  the  great  work  which 
Charlemagne  had  founded,  which  ages  had  cemented,  and 
of  which  the  preservation  was  demanded  by  the  voice  of 
Europe  no  less  than  by  that  of  the  empire.  After  six 
years  had  elapsed  from  the  opening  of  the  preliminaries, 
the  treaty  of  Osnaburg,  between  the  Emperor  and  the 
Protestant  states,  was  agreed  on  in  August  1648;  that 
of  Miinster,  between  the  Emperor,  France,  and  her  allies, 


lol9-lG48.i  't'lIE   TREATY   OF   WESTPHALIA. 


245 


the  following  month ;  and  both  were  duly  signed  at 
Miinster  on  the  same  day  (October  24).  This  pacification, 
known  as  the  Peace  of  Westphalia^  from  the  circumstance 
of  both  cities  being  contained  in  that  province,  will  be 
memorable  through  all  time,  both  from  its  having  served 
as  the  foundation  of  the  international  law  of  Europe,  of 
the  policy  generally  adopted  by  each  state,  and  from  its 
having  correctly  defined  the  claims  of  Protestants  and 
lloman  Catholics,  the  bounds  of  the  imperial,  the  elec- 
toral, the  aristocratical,  and  the  municipal  powers.  It 
is,  in  the  strictest  sense,  the  key  of  modern  history. 

As  the  Pope  seemed  to  be  included  in  the  peace  as  an 
ally  of  the  Emperor,  under  the  expression  "  the  Princes 
and  Republics  of  Italy,"  the  Nuncio  Chigi,  immediately 
after  the  completion  of  the  treaty,  entered  a  protest  against 
it,  and  Pope  Innocent  X.  soon  after  published  a  bull 
(November  26),  declaring  the  treaties  of  Mtinster  and 
Osnabriick  null  and  void.  But  his  thunders  had  ceased 
to  terrify  even  those  who  remained  in  the  ancient  com- 
munion, and  not  a  sword  was  drawn  to  support  him.  The 
remainder  of  Ferdinand's  reign  passed  in  tranquillity;  nor 
does  it  contain  any  striking  event  except  such  as  we  have 
anticipated  in  the  preceding  pages.  He  caused  his  son 
to  be  elected  King  of  the  Romans,  under  the  title  of 
Ferdinand  IV.;  but  the  young  prince,  already  King  of 
Bohemia  and  Hungary,  preceded  him  to  the  tomb,  and 
left  the  question  of  the  succession  to  be  decided  by  a  Diet. 
Ferdinand  III.  died  in  1657,  leaving  behind  him  a  char- 
acter for  wisdom  and  moderation  unequalled  perhaps  by 
any  monarch  of  his  age. 


24G 


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«: '/:  K  Ti  X 


I 


SEVENTH    PERIOD. 

FROM   THE    PEACE   OF   WESTPHALIA   TO   THE    FRENCH 
REVOLUTION. — (1648-1789). 

Death  of  Ferdinand  11.  (1637);— The  aged  Ferdinand 
did  not  live  to  see  the  close  of  that  terrible  war  the  com- 
mencement  of  his  reign  ushered  in  for  the  extermination 
of  Protestantism,  the  only  way  to  attain  which  end,  as 
Scioppius,  in  his  "  Alarm-drum  of  the  Holy  War^"  freely 
declared,  was  "to  wade  to  it  through  blood."  Few 
sovereigns  have  left  behind  them  a  more  odious  name. 
Almost''  the  last  act  of  a  life  which  had  been  one  long 
display  of  ferocious  cruelty,  was  to  order  the  drowning  of 
some  insurgents  in  Carinthia,  and  the  infliction  of  horrible 
tortures  on  the  peasants  of  Upper  Austria.  Practically 
following  out  the  teaching  of  the  Jesuits,  heretics  were 
to  be  exterminated,  not  because  their  doctrines  were 
damnable,  but  because  those  who  presumed  to  differ  from 
their  sovereign  were  in  his  eyes  guilty  of  rebellion. 
Thus,  under  the  mask  of  religious  zeal,  more  than  ^e?i 
millions  of  human  beings  were  sacrificed  to  this  unjust 

and  cruel  policy.  ^  ,  /.        xi,  x 

Before  the  Emperor  himself  disappeared  from  the  gi^eat 
stru^c^le,  he  had  the  satisfaction  of  seeing  his  son  Ferdi- 
nand^'unanimously  acknowledored  as  his  successor  by  the 
Diet  of  Ratisbon,  and  who,  towards  the  end  of  the  year, 
succeeded  to  the  imperial  throne.  The  year  in  which 
the  old  Emperor  died,  a  frightful  famine  was  added  to 
the  other  horrors  of  war.  •  So  ghastly  was  this  visitation 
that  men,  to  save  their  lives,  disinterred  and  devoured 
the  bodies  of  their  fellow-creatures,  and  even  hunted 
down  human  beings  that  they  might  feed  on  their  flesh. 


248 


UlSTORY   OF   GER3IANy.  [PERIOD  Ylt. 


The  eflect  of  this  unnatural  and  loathsome  diet  was  a 
jjestilence,  which  swept  away  the  soldiery  as  well  as  the 
l)eoi)le  by  thousands.  In  Pomerania,  hundreds  destroyed 
themselves,  as  unable  to  endure  the  pangs  of  hunger.  On 
the  island  of  Eiigcn  many  poor  creatures  were  found  dead 
with  their  mouths  full  of  grass,  and  in  some  districts 
attempts  were  made  to  knead  earth  into  bread.  Through- 
out Germany  the  licence  of  war  and  the  misery  consequent 
on  famine  and  pestilence  had  so  utterly  destroyed  tho 
morality  which  was  once  the  pride  and  boast  of  this  land, 
that  the  people,  a  few  years  before  the  most  simi)le  and 
kind-hearted  in  Europe,  now  vied  with  the  foreign  mer- 
cenaries who  infested  their  country  in  setting  at  nought 
the  laws  of  God  as  well  as  man.* 

To  understand  clearly  the  march  of  events  at  this 
critical  juncture,  it  will  be  necessary  to  revert  briefly  to 
the  closing  years  of  the  war.  Already,  during  163G,  the 
cry  of  anguish  from  Germany  "  lying  in  the  dust "  had 
gone  up  from  so  many  suffering  thousands;  but  still  the 
war  went  on  ruthlessly  for  twelve  years  longer,  and  the 
Protestant  cause  was  for  a  second  time  deprived  of  its 
head  by  the  death  of  Bernard  of  Saxe-Weimer  (July, 
1630).  After  his  death  the  Generals  Banier,  Torstenson, 
and  Wrangel  succeeded  each  other  in  command  of  the 
Protestant  army,  and  the  imperial  General  Gallas  was 
replaced  by  a  renegade  Calvinist  Melandcr  von  HolzapfeL 
The  last  event  of  this  long  and  disastrous  war  was  the 
taking  of  Prague  by  the  Swedish  general,  Konigsmark. 
And  though,  on  the  24th  of  Oct.  1648,  articles  of  peace 
were  signed  at  Mlinster  and  Osnabrtick  in  Westphalia, 
nearly  six  years  elapsed  before  the  Diet  even  met  to 
arrange  the  dubious  or  open  points  of  the  two-fold  treaty. 
A  treaty  comprising  such  concessions,  embracing  such 
gi-eat  and  contradictory  interests,  trenching  on  so  many 
deep-rooted  prejudices  and  established  regulations,  natur- 
ally met  with  almost  innumerable  obstacles  in  the  exe- 
cution. 

Of  this  treaty  only  the  principal  conditions  can  be 
*  Schiller,  20  Jahriger  Krieg, 


lG48-i7S0.1  DEATIt   OF   FERDINAND   IT. 


249 


given.  Tlie  objects  of  the  peace  may  be  divided  into  two 
lieads:  the  settlement  of  the  affairs  of  the  empire,  and 
the  satisfaction  of  the  two  crowns  of  France  and  Sweden. 
With  regard  to  Germany,  a  general  amnesty  was  granted; 
and  all  princes  and  persons  were,  with  some  exceptions 
as  to  the  immediate  subjects  of  the  house  of  Austria, 
restored  to  their  rights,  possessions,  and  dignities.  The 
question  of  the  Palatinate,  one  of  the  chief  objects  of  the 
war,  was  settled  by  a  compromise.  The  Duke  of  Bavaria 
was  allowed  to  retain  the  Upper  Palatinate,  with  the 
electoral  dignity  and  rights;  while  the  Lower  Palatinate, 
or  that  of  the  Rhine,  was  restored  to  the  eldest  son  of 
the  unfortunate  Frederick  V.,  son-in-law  of  James  I.  of 
England,  and  an  eighth  electorate  erected  in  his  favour. 
On  the  extinction  either  of  the  Bavarian  or  the  Palatine 
line,  however,  both  electorates  were  again  to  be  merged 
into  one. 

Thus  the  policy  of  France  and  Sweden  was  entirely 
successful.  These  countries,  besides  raising  up  a  counter- 
l)oise  to  the  power  of  the  Emperor  in  Germany  itself, 
had  succeeded  in  aggrandising  themselves  at  the  exj^ense 
of  the  empire.  Sweden,  indeed,  in  the  course  of  a  few 
years  was  to  lose  her  acquisitions;  but  France  had  at  last 
j)ermanently,  it  seemed,  seated  herself  on  the  Bhine;  the 
House  of  Austria  lost  the  preponderance  it  had  enjoyed 
since  the  time  of  Charles  V.,  which  was  now  to  be  trans- 
ferred to  her  rival,  and,  during  the  ensuing  period,  we 
shall  have  to  contemplate  France  as  the  leading  Euro])ean 
power;  a  post  which  she  mainly  owed  to  the  genius  and 
policy  of  Bichelieu.  With  the  Peace  of  Westphalia 
begins  a  new  era  in  the  policy  and  public  law  of  Europe. 

However  little  this  memorable  treaty  differed  from 
similar  arrangements  of  the  time  in  procuring  a  long 
cessation  from  war,  it  had  this  distinguishing  character- 
istic, that  it  served  in  after  time  for  the  basis  of  the 
future  policy  of  Europe.*  No  other  peace  is  so  con- 
stantly referred  to,  even  if  it  be  true  that  no  other  peace 
is  so  often  broken.  It  provisions  were  not,  indeed,  all 
*  Heeren's  Manual,  Vol.  I.,  p.  162, 


X 


250  HISTORY  OP   GERMANY.  [pfiRIOD  Vll. 

practicable,  and  many  were  from  time  to  time  evaded  or 
disregarded;  but  the  principles  themselves  seem  to  have 
taken  root  in  the  Germanic  constitution,  and  ultimately 
to  have  prevailed  both  over  neglect  and  opposition. 
France,  occupied  since  the  peace  with  domestic  affairs, 
omitted  her  usual  interference;  and  Sweden,  now  under 
the  fantastic  rule  of  the  eccentric  Christina,  supported  the 
Emperor,  with  a  view  to  conciliate  the  Romanist  princes. 
After  so  many  conflicts,  Germany  lay  maimed  and 
crippled;  and,  through  the  hereditary  States  of  Austria 
having  particularly  suffered  such  severe  reverses,  that 
imperial  power  which  Charles  V.  had  raised  up  during 
his  reign,  thereby  securing  to  Germany  the  preponderance 
in  Europe,  was  lost  by  her  under  Ferdinand  II.  and  Fer- 
dinand III.  in  the  course  of  the  Thii'ty  Years'  War. 
Still  the  treaty  which  brought  that  war  to  an  end,  by 
adjusting  the  European  equilibrium,  definitely  estab- 
lished Lutheranism  in  Germany,  and  Lutherans  and 
Calvinists  saw  the  necessity  of  laying  aside  their  disputes 
to  obtain  the  abrogation  of  that  foolish  and  wicked  law 
that  would  compel  every  subject  to  follow  the  religion  of 
his  sovereign. 

Condition  of  Germany  after  the  Thirty  Years'  War. 

— It  is  not  difficult  to  understand  what  were  the  wounds 
of  a  country  after  a  war  so  desolating,  and  which  had 
been  so  long  in  the  hands  of  men  who  had  ruthlessly 
spread  ruin  far  and  wide  by  living  on  the  tears  and  blood 
of  Germany.  Two-thirds  of  the  population  had  suc- 
cumbed, less  by  the  edge  of  the  sword  than  as  victims  of 
those  scourges  which  war  brings  in  its  train — life  de- 
stroyed by  slow  degi-ees,  inconceivable  sufferings  from 
contagious  fevers,  plagues,  famine,  terror,  and  despair. 
For  death  upon  the  field  of  battle  is  not  the  worst  of 
war.  The  worst  scourge  is  found  in  the  horrors  and 
miseries  it  inflicts  upon  those  who  are  not  combatants — 
old  men,  women,  and  children,  by  robbing  them  of  all 
the  enjoyments  and  hopes  of  life;  by  the  germ  of  the  new 
generation  exhibiting  a  sickly  de\elopment  without  vigour 
or  courage. 


104S-n80.]      Leopold's  reigk  and  character.        251 

Ferdinand  III.  died  in  1657,  leaving  behind  him  a 
reputation  for  good  intentions,  and  for  cautious  rather 
than  prudent  statesmanship.  His  eldest  son,  Ferdinand, 
the  elected  King  of  the  Romans,  died  in  1654  of  the 
small-pox,  and  his  second  son,  Leopold,  had  been  destined 
by  his  father  to  succeed  him.  Ferdinand  accordingly 
procured  for  him  the  crowns  of  Hungary  and  Bohemia, 
with  the  homage  of  the  Austrian  States,  but  the  question 
of  the  succession  was  left  to  be  decided  by  a  Diet;  and 
ultimately  he  was  chosen  Emperor  in  1659,  after  a  con- 
tested election  between  him  and  Louis  XIV.  of  France, 
who  had  gained  four  of  the  electors  over  to  his 
side.  ^  1     «      . 

Influence  of  France  over  the  Affairs  of  the  Empire. 

— The  interregnum,  and  indeed  the  century  which  fol- 
lowed the  death  of  Ferdinand,  showed  the  alarming 
preponderance  of  the  influence  gained  by  France  in  the 
affairs  of  the  empire,  and  the  consequent  criminality  of 
the  princes  who  had  first  invoked  the  assistance  of  that 
power.  Her  recent  victories,  her  character  as  joint 
guarantee  of  the  Treaty  of  Westphalia,  and  the  con- 
tiguity of  her  possessions  to  the  states  of  the  empire, 
encouraged  her  ministers  to  demand  the  imperial  crown 
for  the  youthful  Louis  XIV.  Still  more  extraordinary 
is  the  fact  that  four  of  the  electors  were  gained  by  that 
monarch's  gold  to  espouse  his  views;  still  more  strange 
that  a  single  voice  could  have  been  raised  in  behalf  of 
a  power  which  had  exhibited  an  ambition  so  perfidious 
and  grasping;  which  had  inflicted  so  fatal  a  blow  on  the 
confederation;  which  watched  the  progress  of  events,  in 
the  hope  of  rendering  the  country  as  dependent  on  France 
as  it  had  been  in  the  time  of  Charlemagne. 

Leopold's  Reign  and  Character  (1657-1705).— The 
long  reign  of  Leopold,  which  lasted  nearly  half  a  century, 
was  an  eventful  time  for  Germany  and  Europe,  not 
through  any  striking  qualities  of  the  Emperor,  but  in 
consequence  of  the  many  important  wai-s  in  which  he 
was  concerned.  Thus,  though  Leopold  had  no  talents 
for  war,  though  he  was  never  present  at  a  battle,  hia 


253 


HISTORY  OF   GERMANY.  [PERIOD  Vll. 


arms  were  victorious.  This  result,  however,  must  not 
he  ascribed  to  any  merit  of  his :  it  arose  from  the  general 
feeling  of  Europe  against  one  of  the  most  unprincipled 
sovereigns  that  ever  cursed  a  country,  and  from  the 
alliances  offensive  and  defensive  which  that  feeling  inevit- 
ably produced.  Leopold's  reign  was  one  of  great  humili- 
ation to  his  house  and  to  the  empire.  Without  talents 
for  government,  without  generosity,  feeble,  bigoted,  and 
pusillanimous,  he  was  little  qualified  to  augment  the  glory 
of  the  country;  though,  to  do  him  justice,  its  prosperity 
was  an  object  which  he  endeavoured,  however  ineffectu- 
ally, to  promote.  Throughout  his  long  reign,  he  had  the 
mortification  to  witness,  on  the  part  of  Louis  XIV.,  a 
series  of  the  most  unprovoked,  wanton,  and  unprincipled 
usurpations  ever  recorded  in  history.  It  is  unnecessary 
here  to  enter  into  a  subject  so  universal,  but  it  may  be 
observed  that,  aided  by  some  alliances  which  his  money 
enabled  him  to  procure  in  the  very  heart  of  the  empire, 
Louis  was  a  terrific  scourge  to  it:  that  a  sense  of  the 
common  danger  roused  Holland,  the  empire,  Denmark, 
England,  and  even  Sweden,  to  combine  against  the 
common  enemy  of  Europe.  Again,  that  the  treaties  of 
Nimeguen  in  1G79,  and  of  Ryswick  in  1697,  were  but 
truces,  made  on  the  part  of  France  only  to  give  time; 
that,  though  sj^lendid  successes  accompanied  for  some 
years  the  arms  of  France,  victory  at  length  forsook  them 
for  those  of  her  enemies;  that  in  the  war  of  the  Spanish 
Succession^  to  which  Leopold's  son,  the  Archduke  Charles 
had  undoubted  claims,  though  Philip  V.  was  supported 
on  the  throne  by  France  and  Spain,  in  the  Low  Countries 
the  French  were  humbled,  especially  at  the  glorious  battle 
of  Blenheim  (13th  August  1704);  and  that  when  Leopold 
died  in  1705,  all  Europe — Italy  and  Spain  especially — 
were  animated  with  a  new  spirit  against  France.  Ono 
of  Leopold's  last  acts  was  to  confer,  by  lettei-s  patent, 
the  dignity  of  Prince  of  the  Empire  on  the  Duke  of 
Marlborough. 

The  principal  interaal  events  in  Germany  during  the 
reign  of  Leopold  were: — 1.  The  establishment  of  a  ninth 


1G48-17S9.] 


JOSEPH   T. 


!53 


electorate  in  favour  of  Ernest  Augustus,  Duke  of  Bruns- 
wick-Lunenburg, who  in  1692  became  the  first  Elector 
of  Hanover.*  2.  The  assumption  of  the  regal  title  by 
Frederick,  Elector  of  Brandenburg  and  Duke  of  Prussia^ 
in  1701.  Leopold  acknowledged  him,  as  he  stood  m  need 
of  his  assistance,  and  Holland,  England,  and  Sweden 
followed  the  example.  3.  The  establishment  of  a  per- 
manent Diet  attended,  not  by  the  electors  in  person, 
but  by  their  representatives,  is  one  of  the  most  striking 
peculiarities  of  Leopold's  reign.    He  was  succeeded  by  his 

eldest  son,  Joseph  I.  ^         , ,      i      i    i 

Joseph  I.  (1705-1711),  the  son  of  Leopold,  who  had 
been  declared  King  of  Hungary,  and,  in  1690,  had  been 
elected  King  of  the  Romans,  succeeded  to  the  imperial 
crown  in  1705.    His  reign  was  short  but  fruitful  in  great 
events.    His  foreign  wars  were  brilliantly  successful,    lie 
carried  on  the  war  called  that  of  the  Spanish  Siiccession, 
which  had  begun  under  his  father,  against  Louis  XIV.   in 
the  Low  Countries,  the  victories  of  his  general,  Eugene, 
and  of  the'  greater  Marlborough,  brought  France  into  a 
state  of  degradation  which  she  had  never  experienced  since 
the  conquering  days  of  Creci,  Poitiers,  and  Agmcourt 
I^uis  was  so  far  humbled,  that,  besides  relinquishing  all 
his  former  conquests,  he  proposed,  as  a  condition  of  peace 
even  to  abandon  his  nephew,  Philip  V.,  whom  he  had 
placed  on  the  troubled  throne  of  Spain,  and  to  acknow- 
ledcre  the  Archduke  Charles,  brother  of  the  Emperor,  who 
was  then  fighting  for  the  Spanish  crown  in  Catalonia  as 
Kin<^  of  Spain  and  the  Indies.     Unfortunately  for  the 
peace  of  Europe,  the  allies,  infatuated  by  success,  refused 
the   conditions,  and   the  war   was   continued      In   the 
Netherlands,  it  was  still  decisive  for  the  a  lies.      The 
battles   of  Ramilies,    Oudenarde,    and   Malplaquet,  the 
deliverence  of  Turin  by  Prince  Eugene,  the  surrender 

»  The  Electoral  College  was  now  constituted  of  the  following 
members : — 

Saxony,  Brandenburg,  Hanoyer-Pro^..^a./.  |  Tempor^ 
Bohemia,  Bavaria,  the  Palatmate— 7?07na7U8^.  J  LUctOis, 
Mainz,  Treves,  ColognQ— Spiritual  Electors, 


I 


254 


HISTORY    OF   GERMANY.  [PERIOD  VII. 


of  Naples  to  the  Austrians,  and  the  permanent  footing 
obtained  by  the  Archduke  Charles  in  Spain,  seemed  to 
have  nearly  decided  the  question,  when  Joseph  died  of 
the  small-pox  in  April  1711,  leaving  his  brother  Charles, 
afterwards  Charles  VI.,  the  last  male  heir  of  the  House 
of  Hapsburg,  to  conclude  the  war. 

Character  and  Reign  of  Joseph  I. — Joseph  was  a 

good  prince;  he  was  learned  and  assiduous  in  the  dis- 
charge of  his  duties;  humane,  charitable,  accessible,  and 
though  a  devoted  Roman  Catholic,  he  was  no  bigot,  no 
persecutor;  in  princii)le  and  practice  he  was  alike  tolerant. 
Internally,  his  reign  is  remarkable  for  the  suppression  of 
tlie  Bavarian  electorate,  in  punishment  of  the  tenacity 
with  which  the  late  Elector  had  clung  to  the  alliance  of 
France,  and  for  the  transfer  of  the  dignity  to  the  Count 
Palatine.  Hence  the  eighth  electorate,  which  had  been 
created  for  the  Count  Palatine,  being  suppressed,  tho 
electoral  college  had  one  member  less. 

Charles  VI.  of  Germany  (1711-1740),  born  in  1685, 
was  the  younger  son  of  the  Emj)eror  Leopold  I.  By  the 
death  of  Joseph,  the  Archduke  Charles,  who  was  striving 
for  the  Spanish  crown,  was  the  only  candidate  for  the 
imperial  throne.  Charles  II.  of  Spain,  the  last  oflfspring 
of  the  Spanish  branch  of  the  House  of  Austria,  being 
childless,  Leopold  had  claimed  the  inheritance  of  tlie 
crown  of  Spain  for  one  of  his  children,  as  next  of  blood. 
lie  fixed  upon  his  younger  son,  the  Archduke  Charles, 
as  the  presumptive  heir,  and  King  Charles  confirmed  the 
choice  by  his  will;  but  the  intrigues  of  Louis  XIV.  and 
his  friends  at  the  court  of  Spain  made  the  King  alter  his 
will  before  his  death  in  favour  of  Philip  of  Anjou,  whose 
grandmother  was  daughter  to  Philip  IV.  of  Spain  and 
sister  to  Charles  II.  This  gave  rise  to  the  long  war 
of  the  S2)anish  Succession,  in  which  most  of  the  other 
European  powers  took  part.  After  the  death  of  Charles 
II.  in  November  1700,  Philip  of  Anjou  was  proclaimed 
under  the  named  of  Philip  V.,  but  the  Emperor^  England, 
Holland,  and  Portugal  supported  the  claims  of  the  Arch- 
duke Charles,  who,  forsaking  the  scene  of  his  battles, 


1C4S-1789.] 


CHARLES   VI.    OF   GERMANY. 


255 


landed  at  Lisbon  in  March  1704  with  some  English  and 
Dutch  troops,  and  was  assisted  by  the  Portuguese.     But 
the  public  mind  of  Europe  was  now  changed.     If  the  war 
with  France  had  been  undertaken  chiefly  from  a  dread 
lest  the  crown  of  that  country  and  of  Spain  might  be 
placed  on  the  brow  of  a  Bourbon,  the  objection  was  even 
stronger  against  the  union  of  the  Spanish  and  of  the 
Imperial  crowns,  with  those  of  Hungary  and  Bohemia, 
on  the  brow  of  an  Austrian.     From  this  moment  it  was 
evidently  the  object  of  the  allies  to  make  what  terms 
they  could  with  Louis  XI V.— to  acknowledge  Philip  V., 
provided  security  were  given  that  the  two  thrones  were 
never  filled  by  the  same  prince,  and  provided  the  bound- 
aries of  the  French  monarchy  on  the  Belgian  and  Ger- 
manic frontier  were  drawn  within  narrower  limits.     The 
fall  of  the  Whigs  in  England,  and  the  accession  of  the 
Tories  to   power,  strengthened  the  desire;    and  it  was 
evident,  that  if  England  withdrew  from  the  confederacy, 
the  war  would  soon  be  at  an  end.     Hence  negotiations 
were  opened;  and,   after  some  discussion,  a  peace  was 
concluded;  Philip  retaining  Spain,  but  renouncing  the 
throne  of  France;  England  keei)ing  Gibraltar;  and,  after 
some  further  manauvring,  a  treaty  was  signed  at  Utrecht 
between  all  the  European  powers,  except  France  and  the 
empire,  on  the  31st  March  1714.     Charles   VI.  received 
as  an  indemnification  all  the  Spanish  j^ossessions  in  Italy, 
with  Sardinia,  the  Netherlands,  and  the  fortresses  of 
Kehl,  Friburg,  and  Breisach.     The  following  year  Austria 
exchanged  Sardinia  for  Sicily  with  the  Duke  of  Savoy, 
who  assumed  the  title  of  King  of  Sardinia.     Frederick 
of  Prussia  obtained  Neufchatel,  in  Switzerland,  as  heir  of 
its  former  possessor,  Marie  de  Nemours,  a  relation  of  the 
House  of  Brandenburg.      Thus  ended  the  war  of  the 
Spanish  Succession,  in  which    France   lost  her   superi- 
ority,   and  Austria   and    Germany  found    the   moment 
favourable  for  resuming  their  former  places  in  modern 
history. 


256 


HISTORY   OP   GERMANY.  [PERIOD  YII. 


1648-17S9.] 


MARIA  THERESA. 


257 


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In  1724,  Charles  issued  the  Pragmatic  Sanction,  or 
fundamental  law,  which  repjulates  tlie  order  of  succession 
in  the  family  of  Austria.  By  this  law,  in  default  of  male 
issue,  Charles's  eldest  daughter,  Maria  Theresa,  was  called 
to  the  inheritance  of  the  Austrian  dominions,  and  her 
children  and  descendants  after  her.  The  Pragmatic 
Sanction  was  guaranteed  by  all  the  German  ])rinGes,  and 
several  of  the  other  powers  of  Europe,  with  the  exception 
of  the  French  and  Spanish  Bourbons,  who  were  always 
jealous  of  the  power  of  Austria. 

Death  of  Charles  VI.,  and  War  of  the  Austrian 

Succession  (1740-1748). — The  death  of  Augustus  II., 
King  of  Poland,  in  1733,  was  the  signal  of  a  new  war  on 
the  part  of  the  Bourbons  against  Austria,  ostensibly  on 
account  of  the  Polish  succession,  which  was  disputed 
between  Augustus  III.  and  Stanislaus  Leczinski.  By 
the  Peace  of  Vienna  in  November  1735,  the  Emperor 
gave  up  Naples  and  Sicily  to  Don  Carlos,  Infante  of 
Spain,  while  the  succession  of  Tuscany,  after  tlie  death 
of  Gian  Gastone,  the  last  of  the  Medici,  who  was  child- 
less, was  secured  to  Maria  Theresa  of  Austria  and  her 
husband,  Francis  of  Lorraine,  who  in  1739  took  posses- 
sion of  that  fine  country.  The  Emperor  Charles  died  at 
Vienna,  20th  October  1740,  and  was  succeeded  in  his 
liereditary  dominions,  and  afterwards  in  the  empire,  by 
his  daughter,  Maria  Theresa,  after  a  long  and  memorable 
war,  known  by  the  name  of  the  War  of  the  Austrian 
Succession.  Charles  was  the  last  male  offspring  of  the 
House  of  Austria-Hapsburg.  The  present  house,  though 
frequently  called  the  House  of  Hapsburg,  is  Austria- 
Lorraine,  being  the  descendants  of  Maria  Theresa  and 
Francis  of  Lorraine. 

Maria  Theresa,  Archduchess  of  Austria,  Queen  of 
Hungary  and  Bohemia,  and  Empress  of  Germany,  was 
born  in  1717.  By  the  death  of  her  father,  Charles  VI., 
she  was,  in  accordance  both  with  the  rights  of  blood  and 
the  faith  of  treaties,  the  lawful  sovereign  of  Bohemia, 
Hungary,  Austria,  Upper  and  Lower,  and  numerous 
other  states,  countries,  and  cities,  in  Germany,  Italy, 


258 


HISTORY  OF  GERMANY.  [PERIOD  VII. 


1C4S-17S0.] 


tut:  seven  years'  war. 


259 


and  the  Xetlierlands.    Of  this  vast  inheritance  she  accord- 
ingly took  undisputed  possession.     But  she  had  soon  to 
experience  the  faithlessness  of  princes.     Charles  Albert, 
Elector  of  Bavaria— a  house  which,  from  its  alliance  with 
France,  and  its  own  ambition,  seemed  destined  to  be  the 
curse  of  the  empire  and  the  House  of  Austria— claimed 
Bohemia.     Augustus  of  Saxony,  who,  like  his  queen,  had 
agreed  to  the  Pragmatic  Sanction,  and  by  so  doing  had 
procured  the  support  of  Austria  in  his  election  to  the 
throne  of  Poland,  with  great  modesty  demanded  the  whole 
of  the  Austrian  dominions.     A  similar  demand  was  made 
by  the  King  of  Spain;  by  the  King  of  France;  while  the 
King  of  Sardinia,  unable  to  cope  with  monarchs  so  power- 
ful, showed  his  superior  moderation,  by  declaring  that  he 
Avould  be  contented  with  the  duchy  of  Milan.      Maria 
Theresa,  however,  with  a  spirit  and  decision  remarkable 
for  her  age,  lost  no  time  in  repairing  to  Vienna  and  taking 
possession  of  Austria,  Bohemia,  and  her  other  German 
states;  she  then  proceeded  to  Presburg,  took  the  oaths  to 
the  constitution  of  Hungary,  a\ul  was  solemnly  proclaimed 
Queen  of  that  kingdom  in  1741.  .tt    ,r. 

Invasion  of  Silesia  by  Frederick  William  II.,  King 
of  Prussia,  surnamed  the  Great.— The  appearance  of  u 

young  helpless  female  on  the  thrones  of  those  vast  ]^osses- 
sionsf  opened  to  these  chivalrous  i)riiicos  a  glorious  pro- 
spect for  the  dismemberment  of  her  states.  But  while 
they  were  carefully  apportioning  their  respective  shares 
of  the  spoil,  a  new  and  more  dangerous  competitor 
appeared  in  Frederick,  King  of  Prussia.  He  offered  the 
young  queen  his  friendship  on  the  condition  of  her  sur- 
rendei-ing  Silesia  to  him,  but  she  resolutoly  refused,  and 
Frederick  invaded  that  province.  The  Elector  of  Bavaria 
overran  Austria  and  Bohemia,  and  pushed  his  troops  to 
the  gates  of  Vienna.  Maria  Theresa  being  obliged  to 
quit  her  capital,  repaired  to  Presburg.  Convoking  the 
Hungarian  Diet,  she  appeared  in  the  midst  of  that 
assembly  with  her  infant  son,  Joseph,  in  her  arms.  She 
told  the  magnates,  prelates,  and  deputies,  that  **  being 
assailed  by  her  enemies  on  every  side,  forsaken  by  her 


i:^^ 


IS- 


fiiends,  and  findiug  even  her  own  relatives  hostile  to  her, 
she  had  no  hopes  except  in  their  loyalty,  and  that  she 
had  come  to  place  under  their  protection  the  daughter  and 
the  son  of  their  kings."  This  heart-stirring  ai)peal  was 
answered  by  a  burst  of  chivalrous  enthusiasm.  The 
Hungarian  nobles  drawing  their  swords,  unanimously 
cried  out,  "  Moriamur  pro  Jiege  nostro,  Maria  Theresa," 
and  the  Avhole  military  force  of  Hungary  was  soon  in 
arms  to  defend  their  queen.  Her  troops,  under  General 
Kevenhuller  and  Prince  Charles  of  Lori-aine,  her  brother- 
in-law,  fought  gallantly,  and  drove  the  French  and  Bava- 
rians out  of  the  liereditary  states. 

A  rival  Emperor  Elected  (22nd  Jan.  1742). — Charles 

Albert,  Elector  of  Bavaria,  was  in  the  meantime  elected 
Emperor  of  Germany,  by  the  Diet  assembled  at  Frank 
fort,  by  the  title  of  Charles  VII.  Frederick  of  Prussia 
soon  made  peace  witli  Maria  Theresa,  who  was  obliged 
to  surrender  Silesia  to  him.  But,  though  still  menaced 
by  these  royal  bandits,  the  queen  did  not  despair:  sup- 
ported by  Hungary,  which  exhibited  the  most  chivalrous 
devotion  to  her  cause,  she  commenced  a  career  of  warfare 
highly  glorious  to  the  Austrian  arms.  In  1744,  Frederick 
again  declared  war  against  her,  and  invaded  Bohemia: 
but  the  Elector  of  Saxony,  who  had  made  his  peace  with 
her,  sent  the  Queen  reinforcements,  which  obliged  the 
Prussians  to  evacuate  the  country. 

Francis  I.  of  Lorraine,  Grand  Duke  of  Tuscany, 
Elected  Emperor  (1745).— In  1745,  Charles  VII.  died, 
and  Francis,  Maria  Theresa's  husband,  was  elected 
Emperor.  In  1747,  the  war  continued  to  rage  in  Italy 
and  Flanders,  with  various  success.  In  1748,  the  peace 
of  Aix-la-Chapelle  terminated  the  war  called  "  the  War 
of  the  Austrian  Succession,"  and  Maria  Theresa  was  left 
in  peaceful  possession  of  all  her  hereditary  dominions, 
except  Silesia,  which  the  King  of  Prussia  kept. 

The  Seven  Years'  War. — In  1756  began  the  Seven 
Year's'  War  between  France,  Austria,  and  Bussia,  on 
one  side,  and  Frederick  of  Prussia  on  the  other.  It 
ended  in  1763,  leaving  both  Austria  and  Prussia  with* 


2G0 


HISTORY   OP   GERMANY.  [PERTOD  VII. 


1C48-1789.] 


LEOPOLD   in 


261 


the  same  boundaries  as  before.  In  17G5,  Maria  Theresa 
/lost  her  Inisband,  for  whom  she  continued  to  wear  mourn- 
ing till  her  death,  and  her  son,  Joseph,  was  elected 
Emperor.  She  however  retained  in  her  hands  the 
administration  of  her  dominions,  and  devoted  all  her 
cares  to  promote  their  prosperity,  and  to  the  improve- 
ment of  the  people  under  her  sway. 

The  Partition  of  Poland  (1773).— The  only  important 
act  of  Maria  Theresa's  political  life  with  which  she  can 
be  reproached  is  her  participation  in  the  first  partition  of 
Poland.  The  plan,  however,  did  not  originate  with  her, 
and  she  for  some  time  refused  to  accede  to  the  treaty^ of 
partition  drawn  up  by  Prussia  and  Kussia  in  1772. 
However,  Prince  Kaunitz  and  her  own  son,  Joseph  II., 
urged  her  to  join  the  two  other  powers,  and  she  at  last 
gave  her  consent. 

Character  cf  Maria  Theresa.— The  improvements  which 

IMaria  Theresa  made  in  her  dominions  were  many  and 
important.  She  was  a  sincere  Roman  Catholic,  but  not 
a  blind  devotee  to  the  court  of  Rome,  and  she  knew 
how  to  discriminate  between  the  temporal  and  spiritual 
jurisdictions.  Maria  Theresa  will  ever  rank  high  among 
illustrious  women,  and  among  those  sovereigns  who  have 
been  the  benefactors  of  mankind.  She  died  at  Vienna 
on  the  29th  of  November  1780.  With  her  ended  the 
House  of  Austria-Hapsburg,  and  at  the  same  time  began 
the  present  dynasty  of  Austria-Lorraine. 

Joseph  XL,  eldest  son  of  Maria  Theresa  and  of  Francis 
of  Lorraine,  was  elected  King  of  the  Romans  in  17G4, 
and  in  the  following  year,  on  the  death  of  his  father,  he 
became  Emperor.  As  long  as  his  mother  lived  he  had 
little  real  power.  Maria  Theresa,  as  already  stated, 
retaining  the  administration  of  her  vast  territories  in  her 
own  hands;  but  on  her  decease  he  became  possessed  of 
all  the  hereditary  Austrian  dominions.  He  would  soon 
have  been  hurled  from  the  throne  of  the  empire  by  the 
ambitious  monarch  of  Prussia,  had  not  the  Austrian  armies 
maintained  him  on  it.  For  some  years  he  was  not  engaged 
'in  war:  and  he  had  no  other  employment  than  to  witness  the 


i<' 


!     ) 


h 


salutary  reforms  which  his  mother  had  introduced .  Indeed, 
during  her  life,  he  was  no.  less  a  cipher  than  his  father 
had  been ;  nor  could  all  his  eftbrts,  all  his  intrigues,  wrest 
the  sovereign  authority  from  her  hands.  Hence  he  rather 
acquiesced  in,  than  effected,  the  infamous  partition  of 
Poland  (1773),  between  Maria  Theresa,  the  Empress  of 
Russia,  and  the  Prussian  monarch.  Soon  after  his  acces- 
sion, Joseph  II.  displayed  considerable  ambition,  mixed 
with  much  restlessness;  he  was,  however,  kept  in  check 
by  France,  and  by  Frederick  of  Prussia.  After  the  deatli 
of  Frederick  in  1786,  Joseph  joined  Catherine  of  Russia 
in  a  war  against  Turkey,  which  his  general,  Laudon, 
carried  on  with  success,  taking  Belgrade  and  other  fort- 
resses in  1789.  But  the  threatening  aspect  of  affairs  in 
France  and  Brabant  arrested  the  progress  of  the  Austrian 
armies,  and  Joseph  himself  died  in  1790.  The  character 
in  which  Joseph  II.  is  chiefly  viewed  is  that  of  a  reformer 
— in  many  instances  a  wise  one,  but  in  others  rash  and 
inconsiderate.  With  all  his  liberality,  he  was  perfectly 
despotic  in  carrying  his  measures  into  effect,  without  regard 
to  the  feelings,  prejudices,  or  interests  of  individuals. 

Leopold  II. — As  Joseph  left  no  issue,  Leopold,  his 
brother,  who,  as  Grand-duke  of  Tuscany,  had  acquired 
great  popularity  in  that  state,  succeeded  to  the  hereditary 
dominions  of  the  House  of  Austria.  Owing,  in  a  great 
measure,  to  the  rash  innovations  of  his  brother,  Leopold 
found  discontent  everywhere;  the  Netherlands  in  oi)en 
revolt;  Hungary  preparing  to  throw  off  the  yoke,  Bohemia 
disafiected;  Prussia  hostile;  England  estranged;  France 
herself  convulsed,  and  likely  to  become  an  enemy;  and 
Russia,  the  only  power  from  which  he  could  expect  aid, 
engaged  in  warfare  with  the  Turks.  But  Leopold  had 
qualities  which  were  sure  to  win  the  hearts  of  his  own 
subjects.  He  abolished  the  more  odious  innovations;  he 
concluded  a  peace  with  the  Porte;  he  pacified  Hungary 
by  restoring  such  of  the  ancient  privileges  of  its  aristo- 
cracy as  had  been  lately  disregarded,  and  at  the  same 
time  marching  troops  to  restrain  the  more  rebellious 
nobles.     The  next  step  of  Leopold  was  to  endeavour  to 


262 


iWSTORY   OP   GERMANY.  [pERIOD  Vlt. 


pacify  the  revolted  states  of  the  Netherlands,  Ly  ofl'ering 
to  re-establish  their  ancient  constitutions;  and  when  they 
obstinately  refused  to  listen  to  his  offers,  he  marched  his 
troops  into  the  Low  Countries,  and  the  leaders  being 
divided  amongst  themselves,  Leopold  recovered,  without 
much  difficulty,  those  fine  provinces.  Then  came  the  dis- 
putes with  France ;  the  terror  caused  by  the  outbreak  of 
the  French  Revolution;  his  eft'orts  to  save  his  sister, 
Marie  Antoinette,  and  Louis  XVI.,  her  husband;  and 
his  alliance  with  Prussia  for  the  purpose  of  checking  the 
progi'ess  of  French  revolutionary  proselytism.  In  the 
midst  of  all  these  cares,  Leopold  died  on  the  1st  of  March 
1792,  aged  foi-ty-four  years.  He  was  generally  regretted 
for  his  affability,  his  strict  justice,  his  kindness  towards 
the  poor,  whom  he  admitted  freely  into  his  ])rescnce,  and 
his  sound  judgment.  He  was  succeeded  by  his  eldest  son, 
Francis  II. 


1G1S-17S0.]      TAr.Lli   01?   CONfl^MPORAllY   SOVEREIGNS. 


2C3 


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EIGHTH    PERIOD, 

FROM  THE  FRENCH  REVOLUTION  TO  THE  PEACE 
OF  PARIS  (1789-1815). 

Francis  II.  (1702-1806)  succeeded  bis  father  in  1792. 
The  French  Ee volution  commences  a  new  er;i  in  the 
history  of  Germany,  of  Europe,  almost  of  the  workl.  The 
new  Emperor  entered  into  an  alliance  with  Frederick 
William  II.,  King  of  Prussia,  against  the  French  Republic. 
To  anticipate  them,  the  latter  hastened  to  declare  war 
against  Austria  in  1792.  The  commencement  of  1793 
saw  the  atrocious  murder  of  Louis  XVI.  (January  21), 
the  sanguinary  faction  of  the  Jacobins  having  got  the 
uppermost. 

The  history  of  the  German  states  at  this  period  is  unim- 
portant, except  in  connection  with  the  French  Revolution, 
and  the  affairs  of  Pohxnd.  The  same  spirit  which  i)ro- 
duced  the  revolution  in  France,  had  penetrated  into 
Germany,  and  even  into  its  courts.  It  had  animated 
and  influenced  Frederick  the  Great  and  the  Emperor 
Josei)h  II.  The  vast  intellectual  movement  observable 
throughout  Europe  in  the  last  half  of  the  eighteenth 
century,  the  upheaving,  as  it  were,  and  throes  of  the 
European  mind,  had  given  birth  almost  to  the  first  Ger- 
man literature  that  can  be  called  original  and  vernacular. 
The  works  of  most  of  their  distinguished  writers  began 
to  breathe  a  spirit  of  liberty.  Salzmann  sketched  a  strik- 
ing and  perhaps  exaggerated  picture  of  the  political  and 
social  evils  under  which  his  countiymen  laboured.  The 
epic  poet,  Kloi^stock,  gave  vent  to  his  aspirations  for 
freedom  in  several  odes.  In  many  of  Stolberg's  pieces, 
love  of  liberty  and  hatred  of  tyrants  are  expressed  with 


17S0-1815.]      THE    GERMAN    CAMPAIGN   OF    1796.  265 

a  boldness  which  must  have  grated  strangely  on  the 
ears  of  some  of  the  German  sovereigns.  Schiller's  early 
tragedies  were  calculated  to  have  more  effect.  Yet  when 
the  French  Revolution  broke  out,  it  found  no  partisan  in 
Schiller.  He  augured  unfavourably  of  the  Constituent 
Assembly,  thought  them  incompetent  to  establish,  or  even 
to  conceive,  true  liberty ;  foretold  the  catastrophe  of  a 
military  despotism.*  Goethe,  his  contemporary,  regarded 
the  explosion  in  France  as  an  unwelcome  interruption  of 
the  tranquil  pleasures  of  polite  and  cultivated  society; 
Wieland,  in  his  essays  on  the  French  Revolution,  took  the 
popular  side.  A  more  direct  form  of  propagating  liberal 
principles  than  by  literature  was  by  means  of  clubs  and 
secret  societies.  Of  these  latter,  one  called  the  Order  of 
Illiuninatl  was  the  most  influential.  In  a  few  years  this 
society  numbered  thousands  of  members,  belonging  chiefly 
to  the  higher  classes.  Its  principles  seem  not  to  have 
threatened  any  very  immediate  or  alarming  danger;  never- 
theless, it  was  suppressed  by  Charles  Theodore,  Elector  of 
Bavaria.  In  other  German  states  the  lUuininati  appear 
to  have  been  left  unmolested. 

Prone  to  reflection,  the  German  mind  is  not  readily 
excited  to  action.  Little  desire  was  manifested  in  Ger- 
many to  imitate  the  movement  in  France.  It  was  only  in 
the  Rhenish  provinces,  where  the  people  came  into  imme- 
diate contact  with  the  French,  and  could  be  assisted  by  their 
armies,  that  any  revolutionary  spirit  was  manifested. 

The  German  Campaign  of  1796.— Only  a  brief  out- 

line  can  be  given  of  the  somewhat  comi)licated  campaign 
of  the  French  against  the  empire  in  1790.  The  plan  of  it 
by  Carnot  was  bold  and  skilful.  Two  generals,  already  dis- 
tinguished, Jourdan  and  Moreau,  having  each  from  70,000 
to  80,000  men,  were  to  penetrate  into  Germany,  the  first 
by  the  valley  of  the  Mein;  the  second,  by  that  of  the 
Necker,  in  order  to  reach  the  basin  of  the  Danube,  and 
descend,  from  thence,  upon  the  hereditary  estates,  which 
the  army  of  Bonaparte,  35,000  strong,  menaced  by  way  of 
Italy.  *..•...* 

.*  K.  A.  Meiizel.     Dcr  DcutscJien,    B.  vi.,  S.  285. 


2GG 


HISTORY   OP   GERMANY.  [PERIOD  VIIL 


\\ 


1789-1815.]      THE  GERMAIN  CAMPAIGN   OF    179(5. 


26J 


Eonaparte  had  found  the  French  army  cantoned  upon 
the  bouthem  slopes  of  the  Alps  and  Apennines,  where  it 
had  struggled  with  difficulty  for  four  years  against  the 
Sardinian  and  Austrian  troops.  Instead  of  wasting  its 
strength  among  barren  rocks,  he  tried  again,  by  develop- 
ing it,  the  manoeuvre  which  had  caused  the  loss  of  the 
camp  of  Saorgio  in  1794,  and  which,  followed  up  by 
Massena  in  1795,  had  again  profited  Scherer  by  the  victory 
of  Loano,  in  which  the  Austrian  general  was  crushed  and 
compelled  to  regain  the  defiles  of  the  Tyrol,  while  J3rescia 
and  Salo  were  recovered  by  the  French. 

The  opening  of  the  cam])aign  of  179G  by  Bonaparte 
was  followed  by  the  most  brilliant  success.  By  the 
promptitude  of  his  manoeuvres  and  suddenness  of  his 
attacks,  he  completely  overcame  and  separated  the  army 
of  the  Sardinians  from  that  of  the  Austrians,  and  forced 
the  King  of  Sardinia  to  sign  a  treaty  of  peace;  and  this 
he  followed  up  by  turning  his  arms  against  the  Austrians, 
and  pursuing  them  to  the  north  of  the  Po.  Thus  the 
whole  of  Central  Italy  lay  now  open  before  the  Corsican 
conqueror,  and  all  the  princes  of  that  country  trembled 
at  his  vengeance.  They  alternately  demanded  ]>eace  and 
obtained  it,  but  at  the  sacrifice  of  millions  of  money,  nume- 
rous invaluable  paintings,  together  with  other  treasures 
of  art  and  precious  manii3crii)ts. 

Meanwhile,  great  events  had  likewise  transpired  in 
Germany.  The  forces  there  had  scarcely  commenced 
operations,  when  already  the  principal  blow  was  struck 
in  Italy,  and  the  brave  old  warrior,  V/urmscr,  was  sum- 
moned from  Germany  with  30,000  men  to  the  relief  of 
IMantua,  the  last  stronghold  of  the  Austrians  in  Italy. 
The  French  armies,  according  to  Carnot's  plan,  drawn  ui> 
by  order  of  the  French  Directory,  were  now  enabled  tc 
penetrate  into  the  heart  of  the  Germanic  empire.  In 
August,  Jourdan  was  within  only  a  few  days*  march  of 
Batisbon,  and  Moreau  was  close  to  Munich,  with  the  army 
of  the  Bhine  and  Moselle;  the  latter  general  declared 
openly  that  his  object  was  to  give  his  right  hand  to  Bona- 
parte's army  in  Italy,  and  his  loft  to  that  of  Jourdan, 


This  junction  of  such  overwhelming  masses  of  troops 
brought  with  it  the  most  alarming  appearances,  and  this 
was  one  of  the  most  critical  and  dangerous  moments  for 
Austria.  Nevertheless,  the  jieril  thus  threatened  was 
once  more  diverted  by  the  youthful  hero  of  that  imperial 
house.  The  Archduke  Charles  now  came  forth,  and  sud- 
denly marching  with  his  troops  against  Jourdan,  attack- 
ing him  at  Neumark  (27th  August),  and  at  Amberg  ou 
the  24th,  beat  him  so  completely  that  the  whole  army  ol 
the  Sambre  and  Mouse  took  to  flight,  and  never  halted 
till  it  gained  the  Lower  Bhine.  Jourdan  rallied  them  at 
Miihlheim,  marched  thence  to  Dusseldorf,  and  shortly 
afterwards  resigned  the  connnand.  By  this  disaster, 
Moreau  was  forced  likewise  to  make  a  retreat  to  the 
Upper  Bhine;  and  this  he  effected  in  such  masterly  style, 
that  after  marching  over  the  most  perilous  roads  through 
Swabia  and  the  Black  Forest,  and  being  continually  pur- 
sued and  hemmed  in  by  the  enemy,  he  gained  the  banks 
of  the  Bhine  well  provided  with  booty,  and  bringing  with 
him  even  a  number  of  prisoners  taken  on  his  march. 
By  this  admirable  retreat,  tiie  fame  of  Moreau  as  a 
general  was  permanently  established.  The  leaders  on 
both  sides  now  agreed  upon  an  armistice  being  concluded 
on  the  Bhine  during  the  winter. 

The  Archduke  Charles,  on  whom  all  eyes  were  now 
turned  with  admiration,  received  a  hastv  summons  to 
repair  to  Italy,  in  order  to  reorganise  the  Austiian  army. 
Wurmser,  although  successful  in  several  attacks,  was  only 
able  to  throw  himself,  with  a  subsidy  of  10,000  men,  into 
Mantua;  but  Bonaparte  had  now  arrived,  and,  renewing 
the  siege,  forced  them,  on  the  Gtli  of  February  1797,  to 
surrender. 

The  Archduke,  with  a  broken-down  and  dispirited 
army,  was  not  in  a  condition  to  check  the  progress  made 
by  Bonaparte.  The  latter,  after  the  fall  of  Mantua, 
penetrated  more  and  more  northwards,  crossed  the  Alps 
which  separate  Italy  from  Carinthia,  and  rapidly  advanced 
through  Styria  upon  Vienna.  But  his  course,  at  this 
time,  had  been  i)ui'sued  with  too  much  impetuosity,  and 


2G8 


HISTORV   OF   GERMANY,  [PERIOD  Vlll. 


the  situation  in  wliicli  he  now  found  himself  was  extremely 
critical.  In  his  front  he  had  the  imperial  army,  whicli, 
at  every  retrogressive  step,  became  more  and  more  for- 
midable, as  Vienna  had  already  armed  itself,  and  Hungary 
was  rising  en  masse.  On  his  left  flank,  the  imperial 
general,  Laudon,  was  marching  in  advance  against  him 
from  the  Tyrol;  and  in  his  rear,  in  the  vicinity  of  Trieste, 
another  numerous  body  of  troops,  together  with  the  whole 
of  the  Venetian  territory,  were  under  arms.  In  this  state 
of  things,  if  Austria  had  been  willing  to  stake  the  chances 
she  might  have  succeeded  in  annihilating  her  adversary 
with  one  blow.  Bonaparte  was  lost  should  the  Archduke's 
])lan  of  operations  meet  with  the  approbation  of  the 
Viennese  cabinet,  and  perfectly  aware  of  the  fact,  he 
made  proposals  of  peace  under  pretence  of  sparing  unneces- 
sary bloodshed.  The  imperial  court,  stupefied  by  the  late 
discomfiture  in  Italy,  acceded  to  them.  Preliminaries  of 
l)eace  were  concluded  at  Leoben,  by  which  the  French, 
besides  being  liberated  from  their  dangerous  position, 
were  recognised  as  victors.  The  negotiations  were  con- 
tinued at  Campo  Formio,  a  nobleman's  castle  near  Udine, 
where  the  Austrians  somewhat  regained  courage,  and 
Count  Cobenzl  even  ventured  to  refuse  some  of  the 
articles  proposed.  Bonaparte,  irritated  by  oj^position^ 
dashed  a  valuable  cup,  the  gift  of  the  Eussian  Empress, 
violently  to  the  ground,  exclaiming,  "You  wish  for  war? 
Well!  you  shall  have  it,  and  your  monarchy  shall  be 
shattered  like  that  cup."  The  armistice,  however,  was 
not  interrupted,  and  hostilities  were  even  suspended  on 
the  Bhine  (October  1797).  Thus  Bonaparte,  in  two 
campaigns,  subjugated  Italy;  gained  fourteen  battles; 
wrested  their  arms  from  the  grasp  of  all  the  states  in  that 
quarter ;  and,  finally,  brought  over  Austria  to  sign  a  peace. 
The  Emperor,  by  this  treaty,  ceded  the  Austrian  Nether- 
lands to  France,  and  renounced  his  Italian  possessions, 
including  the  capital  of  Milan,  together  with  several  other 
Italian  provinces,  which  were  to  form  a  Cisalpine  Bepublic, 
under  the  protectorship  of  Fmnce.  In  return  for  this, 
Austria  received  Venice,  the  Venetian  Isles,  Istria,  and 


1780-1815.]      THE   GERMAN   CAMPAIGN   OF    1706.  2G9 

Dalmatia,  and  engaged  to  summon,  forthwith,  a  congress 
at  Bastadt,  in  order  to  treat,  more  fully,  the  several 
conditions  of  the  peace  concluded  between  the  French 
republic  and  the  Germanic  empire.  The  triumph  of  the 
republic  was  confirmed,  and  ancient  Europe  received  a 
new  form.  The  object  for  which  the  sovereigns  of  France 
had  for  centuries  vainly  striven  was  won  by  the  monarch- 
less  nation;  France  gained  the  preponderance  in  Europe. 
Italy  and  the  whole  of  the  left  bank  of  the  Bhme  were 
abandoned  to  her  arbitrary  rule,  and  this  fearful  loss,  far 
from  acting  as  a  warning  to  Germany  and  promoting  her 
nnion,  merely  increased  her  internal  dissensions,^  and 
offered  to  the  French  republic  an  oi)portunity  for  inter- 
vention, of  which  it  took  advantage  for  purposes  of  gain 

and  pillage. 

The  principal  object  of  the  policy  of  Bonaparte  and  ot 
the  French  Directory,  at  that  period,  was,  by  rousing  the 
ancient  feelings  of  enmity  between  Austria  and  Prussia, 
to  eternalise  the  disunion  between  those  two  monarchies. 

A  coalition  of  powers  was  now  formed  against  France, 
such  as  had  never  before  been  brought  into  operation : 
being  a  union  of  Bussia,  England,  Austria,  and  even 
Turkey.    At  the  moment  when  the  negotiations  with  the 
Germanic  empire  had  as  yet  made  but  little  progress,  and 
consequently  the  peace  of  continental  Europe  was  not  yet 
secured,  and  when  England  was  maintaining  a  gloriously 
victorious  struggle  on  the  seas,  the  flower  of  the  French 
army,  headed  by  Bonaparte  and  their  best  and  most  suc- 
cessful leaders,  suddenly  embarked  and  set  sail  towai-ds 
a  distant  land.     Bonaparte,  compelled  to  veil  his  ambi- 
tious projects,  judged  it  more  politic,  after  sowing  the 
seed  of  discord  at  Campo  Formio,  to  withdraw  awhile,  in 
order  to  await  the  ripening  of  the  plot,  and  to  return  to 
reap  the  result.     He  accordingly  went,  meantime  (May 
1798),  with  a  small  but  well -picked  army  to  Egypt  tor 
the  obstensible  purpose  of  opening  a  route  overknd  to 
India,  the  sea-passage  having  been  closed  agaiiist  J^  ranee 
by  the  British,  but  in  reality  for  the  purpose  of  awaitinnr 
there  a  turn  in  Continental  affairs. 


or 

O 


270 


HISTORY  OP   GERMANY.  [PERIOD  VTII. 


During  Bonaparte's  absence,  tlie  weakness  of  the  Direc- 
tory had  allowed  all  the  fruits  of  the  peace  of  Campo 
Formio  to  be  lost.  On  the  renewal  of  the  war  in  1799, 
at  the  instigation  of  the  Neapolitan  court,  the  Austrians 
were  assisted  by  the  Eussians,  and  at  the  close  of  the 
eighteenth  century,  the  tide  of  affairs  seemed  to  be  turn- 
ing greatly  against  the  French,  when  a  new  revolution 
in  the  fluctuating  govcrnmont  of  that  disturbed  people, 
brought  about  chiefly  by  financial  difficulties,  suddenly 
changed  the  fiice  of  things. 

Affairs  to  the  Assumption  of  the  Chief  Power  by 

Bonaparte    (1799-1800).— Only  a  general    idea   of  the 
campaign  of  1799  can  be  given.     On  the  Gth  March,  the 
French  fleet  was  utterly  destroyed  by  Lord  Nelson  in  tho 
Bay  of  Aboukir.     The  Directory  declared  war  against 
the  Emperor,  who  had  lately  formed  a  coalition  with 
Kussia,  England,  and  Turkey.    The  French  were  anxious 
to  obtain  possession  of  the  Grison  country.     At  Ostrach 
and  Stockach,  Jourdan  was  defeated   by  the  Archduke 
Charles.    A  Russian  army,  under  Suvaroff,  entered  Italy, 
and,  in  union  with  the  Austrians,  defeated  the  French 
at  Cassano,  in  Lombardy,  and  drove  them  to  JMilan  and 
Genoa.     Alessandria  was  taken,  and  the  French,  under 
Joubert  and  Moreau,  were  routed    at  Novi.      Suvarofi 
marched  into  Switzerland,  Avhere  there  had  been  some 
severe  fighting.     Korsakoff*  had  led  another  Paissian  army 
into  that   country.     Massena,   the    French  commander, 
attacked  and  defeated  this  last  officer,  and  Zurich  was 
taken  by  storm.     But  the  retreat  of  Jourdan  rendered 
these  dear-bought  successes  unavailing;  and  before  the 
end  of  March  the  French  were  driven  back  in  this  quarter 
by  Bellegarde.     The  Aulic  Council  at  Vienna  did  them, 
however,  some  service  by  forbidding  the  Archduke  to 
pursue  his  victorious  career.     The  Russians,  accusing  tho 
Austrians  of  treason,  withdrew  from  the  coalition. 

Murder  of  the  French  Plenipotentiaries  at  Rastadt. 
— The  advance  ot  the  Austrians  had  compromised  tho 
safety  of  French  plenipotentiaries  at  Rastadt,  near  Baden. 
Count  Metternich,  the  imperial  minister,  had  announced 


1789-1815.]      DEFEAT   OP   THE   FRENCH   IN   ITALY.  271 

his  recall  (April  7),  as  well  as  the  resolution  of  the  Emperor 
to  annul  all  that  had  been  done  at  Rastadt.    The  congress 
was  thus  de  facto  terminated,  as  the  deputation  of  the 
empire  could  not  deliberate  in  the  absence  of  a  represen- 
tative of  the  Emperor.     Nevertheless  the  French  minister 
remained.     A  guarantee   of  the   neutrality  of  Rastadt, 
which  the  Litter  endeavoured  to  obtain  from  tho  com- 
mander of  the  Austrian  advanced  posts  at  Gernsbach, 
was  refused.     On  the  evening  of  April  28,  the  town  was 
occupied  by  a  detachment  of  Szekler  hussars,  whose  colonel 
having  directed  the  French  ministers  to  leave  it  within 
twenty-four  hours.  Bonnier,  a  man  of  violent  temper, 
persuaded  his  colleagues  to  depart  at  once,  though  it  was 
already  night.     Their  carriages  had  scarcely  cleared  the 
tov/n  when  they  were  surrounded  by  a  party  of  Szcklers ; 
Bonnier  and  Robertjot  were  sabred;  Jean  Debry,  severely 
wounded,  and  left  for  dead,  contrived  to  get  back  to 
Rastadt.     Nothing  was  taken  from  the  French  ministers 
but  their  portfolios.     This  atrocious  violation  of  the  law 
of  nations  created  universal  indignation  and  abhorrence 
in  Europe.     There  could  be  little  doubt  that  the  order 
iov  the  crime  must  have  emanated  from  the  cabinet  of 
Vienna,  and  the  presumption  was  strengthened  by  the 
sudden  suppression  by  that  cabinet  of  the  judicial  inquiry 
which  had  been  instituted. 

The  Austrians  defeat  the  French  in  Italy.— Mean- 
while, the  Austrians  in  Italy  reduced  Coni  (May  19),  and 
invested  Genoa.  Naples  was  reached  and  taken  (June 
17);  scenes  of  vengeance  and  massacre  ensued,  to  put  an 
end  to  which  Rufib  granted  the  revolutionists  a  favour- 
able capitulation.  The  French  garrison  in  the  castle  of 
St.  Elmo  surrendered  July  5,  and  on  the  27th  King 
Ferdinand  IV.  re-entered  his  capital.  Every  lover  of  his 
country,  every  admirer  of  her  greatest  naval  hero,  must 
lament  that  Nelson,  who  was  absent  from  Naples  at  tlie 
time  of  the  capitulation,  should  have  disavowed  it  on  his 
return,  though  signed  by  one  of  his  own  captains;  that 
he  should  have  persuaded  King  Ferdinand  to  repudiate 
it,  and  to  condemn  to  death  a  great  many  of  the  revolu- 


272 


HISTORY   OP   GERMANY.  [PERIOD  VII. 


tionists,  including  Prince  Moliterno,  Marquis  Camccioli, 
and  the  Duke  ofCassano;  nay,  that  he  should  have  con- 
verted the  quarter-deck  of  his  own  vessel  into  a  place  of 
execution.  A  fiital  syren  had  corrupted  for  awhile  the 
heart  of  the  victor  of  Aboukir,  and,  in  the  intoxication 
of  unlawful  love,  had  caused  him  to  forget  the  dictates  of 
humanity  and  his  own  glory. 

Bonaparte  Reconquers  Italy  from  the  Austrians.— 

On  learning  the  loss  of  Italy,  and  the  danger  and  defeats 
of  France,  Bonaparte  suddenly  quitted  Egypt  without 
being  recalled,  and  suddenly  reappeared  in  Paris.     The 
struggle  of  parties  had  recommenced  with  greater  violence 
than  ever,  and  resulted  in  placing  Bonaparte  at  the  head 
of  the  republic,  with  the  title  of  First  Consul  (29th  Dec.) 
In  the  following  spring  tlie  brilliant  soldier  of  Areola  and 
Ptivoli  crossed  the  Alps  by  the  Pass  of  Mont  St.  Bernard, 
fell  upon  the  rear  of  Melas,  the  Austrian  general,  and  in 
a  single  battle  (Marengo),  reconquered  Italy  (14th  June 
1800).      This   transcendent   success,  together  with  the 
splendid  victory  of  Moreau,  at  Hohenlinden,  over  the 
Archduke  John,  forced  Austria  to  sign  the  peace  of  Lune- 
ville  (9th  February  1801),  in  which  Austria  recognised 
Holland,  Switzerland,  and  the  noi-tli  of  Italy  as  indepen- 
dent states  protected  by  France,  under  the  names  of  the 
Batavian,  Helvetic,  Ligurian,  and  Cisalpine  Republics, 
and  ceded  to  the  French  the  entire  left  bank  of  the  Rliino 
with  four  millions  of  inhabitants. 

England  declares  War  against  France  (May  1803). 

— The  treaty  of  Luneville  was  rapidly  followed  by  that 
of  Amiens  (27th  March  1802),  by  which  England  con- 
cluded a  peace  with  France.  But  this  cessation  of 
hostilities  lasted  little  more  than  a  year.  England,  pre- 
ferring open  war  to  a  hollow  peace,  resolved  to  again 
draw  the  sword,  if  necessary,  against  France,  and  demanded 
of  Bonaparte  the  evacuation  of  Holland  and  of  Switzer- 
land, and,  on  his  refusal,  declared  war  against  him  (IMay 
1803).  No  sooner  was  the  English  minister's  (Mr.  Pitt) 
proclamation  issued  than  the  French  took  possession  of 
Hanover,  although  it  formed  a  portion  of  the  Germanic 


;/ 89- 1815.1  JHE  TREATY   OF    PRESBURG. 


273 


/ 

/empire,  with  which  they  were  at  peace.  After  the  con- 
quest of  their  country,  many  thousand  Hanoverians  passed 
over  into  England,  where  they  were  formed  into  a  brigade 
called  the  "  King's  German  Legion,"  and  served  with  dis- 
tinction in  Spain,  Portugal,  France,  and  Italy. 

Bonaparte  chosen  Emperor  (1804). — In  1802,  that 
energetic  general  and  able  administrator.  Napoleon  Bona- 
parte seemed  to  have  reached  the  summit  of  glory,  in 
having  for  a  second  time  given  peace  to  France  externally. 
But  the  climax  of  his  wonderful  career  had  not  yet  been 
attained.  Internal  discord  and  dangerous  innovations  in 
the  Tribunal  resulted  in  a  declaration  from  the  Senate, 
urging  the  First  Consul  to  govern  the  French  Republic 
as  hereditary  Emperor  by  the  title  of  Napoleon  I.,  and 
the  people  ratified  by  their  suffrages  the  establishment 
of  a  new  dynasty,  which,  sprung  from  the  revolution, 
should  preserve  the  principles  of  it  (18th  May  1804). 
But  the  powerful  master  of  France  did  not  know  how  to 
master  himself  or  hold  within  fixed  limits  his  towering 
ambition.  Created  Emperor  in  France,  he  became  King 
of  Italy  (18th  March  1805). 
Austerlitz  and  the  Treaty  of  Presburg  (1805).— 

The  contest  with  England,  as  already  stated,  i-ecommenced 
in  1803.  Russia  and  Austria  again  coalesced  with  that 
power.  Napoleon,  with  his  characteristic  impetuosity, 
burst  into  Germany  in  the  beginning  of  Octol3er  1805. 
VVurtemberg,  Baden,  and  Bavaria  joined  their  forces  tc 
his,  and  the  Duke  of  Wurtemberg  and  the  Elector  of 
Bavaria  were  rewarded  by  his  conferring  on  them  the 
title  of  King.  Ulm  surrendered  on  the  17th  of  October. 
On  the  21st,  the  news  of  a  great  naval  reverse  gave  pro- 
found anxiety  to  the  French  Emperor.  The  same  day 
on  which  the  Austrian  general  evacuated  Ulm,  after  a 
bloody  engagement.  Admiral  Villeneuve  was  defeated  by 
Nelson  in  the  sanguinary  battle  of  Trafalgar.  The  French 
irmy  entered  Viemia  (November  13).  On  the  2nd  oi 
December  was  fought  the  great  battle  of  Austerlitz, 
which  ended  in  the  complete  defeat  of  the  Russians  and 
A^ustrians,  and  enabled  the  French  Emperor  to  dictate 


274 


HISTORY  OP  GERVAXY.  [PERIOD  VII 


\ 


I7S9-1S15.]      CONFEDERATION   OF   THE    RIIIXE. 


275 


a  peace  witli  Austria..  Soon  after  this  battle,  wliicL 
Napoleon  called  ''  the  battle  of  the  three  Emperors,"  a 
treaty  of  peace  was  signed  at  Presbiirg  (26th  December 
1805),  by  which  Austria  gave  up  the  Tyrol  to  Bavaria, 
^  her  Swabian  possessions  to  Wurtemberg  and  Baden,  and 

^  her  Venetian  dominions  to  Bonaparte,  as  King  of  Italy. 

The  Emperor  of  Russia  withdrew  his  troops  into  his  own 
teiTitories.  The  King  of  Prussia,  who  had  remained 
neutral  in  this  contest,  received  Hanover  as  the  reward 
of  his  neutrality;  or,  as  is  most  probable,  that  electorate 
was  confen^ed  on  him  for  the  pui-pose  of  placing  his 
interests  in  opposition  to  those  of  the  King  of  England, 
who,  it  could  not  be  doubted,  would  seize  the  first  oppor- 
tunity of  reclaiming  his  ancient  inheritance. 

Thus  rapidly  was  this  coalition  dissolved  in  a  short 
campaign,  which  proved  universally  successful,  except  on 
that  element  in  which  the  power  of  England  still  reigned 
without  a  rival.  Encouraged  by  her  naval  victory  of 
Trafalgar,  England  continued  the  struggle,  and  decided 
Prussia  to  descend  into  the  arena. 

Confederation  of  the  Rhine  —  Dissolution  of  the 
Germanic  Empire.— On  the  12th  of  July  180G,  sixteen 
of  the  German  princes  solemnly  renounced  their  fealty  to 
the  empire,  and  formed  a  league  called  the  Confederation 
of  the  Rhine,  and  placed  themselves  under  the  protection 
of  Napoleon.  On  the  1st  of  August  he  declared  the 
German  Empire  at  an  end;  and  five  days  later,  Francis 
II.,  on  laying  aside  that  dishonoured  crown  of  the  ancient 
empire,  which,  1006  years  previously,  Charlemagne  had 
[)laced  on  his  own  brow — assumed  the  title  of  Emperor 
of  Austria.*    Thus  was  extinguished,  after  having  lasted 

*  The  family  from  which  the  imperial  dynasty  of  Austria 
sprang  in  the  seventh  century  was  that  of  the  House  of  Hapsburg. 
Hapsburg  was  an  ancient  castle  in  Switzerland,  on  a  lofty  eminence 
near  Schintznach.  In  115G,  the  Margraviate  of  Hapsburg  was 
made  an  hereditary  duchi/  by  the  Emperor  Frederick  I.,  and,  in 
1453,  it  was  raised  to  an  archduchy  by  the  Emperor  Frederick 
III.  E-odolph,  Count  of  Hapsburg,  having  been  elected  Emperor 
of  Germany  in  1273,  acquired  Austria  in  1278;  and,  from  141)3  to 
1804,  his  descendants  were  Emperors  of  Germany. 


so  many  ages,  the  Holy  Roman  Empire,  more  properly 
called  the  Germanic  Empire.  Prussia,  which  had  been 
too  much  alarmed  by  the  rapid  progress  of  the  French 
armies  in  Germany  to  dare  to  break  her  neutmlity, 
now  entered  into  a  league  with  Eussia,  and  took  arms  to 
.lescend  into  the  arena.  The  establishment  of  the  Rhenish 
Confederation  was  viewed  as  at  once  an  attack  and  an 
insult  upon  Prussia. 

That  Confederation  completed  another  great  step  towards 
universal  domination.  Napoleon  was  now  master  of  Italy 
and  Dalmatia;  he  had  humbled  Austria  and  overturned 
the  first  throne  of  Christendom;  he  was  the  Protector  and 
Dictator  of  a  great  part  of  Germany.  The  epoch  of  the 
Austrian  war  and  humiliation  of  the  Emperor  was  also 
marked  by  the  deposition  of  the  Pope. 

The  result  of  this  ill-advised  attempt  of  Prussia  to 
avenge  an  insult  by  a  declaration  of  war  w^as  what  might 
have  been  anticipated.     Napoleon  replied  to  the  provoca- 
tion of  the  Berlin  cabinet  by  a  thunderbolt.     He  gave 
the  allied  armies  no  time  to  unite  their  forces,  but  con- 
centrating his  own  great  army  still  in  Germany,  he  fell 
upon  the  Prussians.     Two  terrible  blows  were  struck  at 
Auerstudt  and  Jena.     A  portion  of  the  Prussian  army 
was  at  Auerstiidt,  under  the  command  of  the  Duke  of 
Brunswick;  and  the  other,  under  the  orders  of  the  Prince 
of  Hohenlohe,  was  stationed  at  Jena,  but  both  without 
acting  in  combination  with  each  other;  and  they  were 
accordingly  attacked  and  decisively  defeated  on  the  same 
day.    Marshal  Davoust  fought  at  Auerstadt,  and  Napoleon 
m  pei^on  at  Jena.     In  a  month  (8th  November),  the 
Prussian  monarchy  had  ceased  to  exist.     Ten  days  after 
the  battle  of  Jena,  Napoleon  marched  into  Berlin,  and 
from  Potsdam  he  took  the  sword  of  Frederick  the  Great. 
Encouraged  by  his  success,  he  declared  in  Berlin  that  he 
would  never  give  up  that  city  until  he  had  conquered  a 
general  peace;  and  it  was  from  that  same  city  he  issued 
the  decree  (21st  November  180G)  against  the  English, 
by  which  the  British  Islands  were  declared  in  a  state  of 
blockade,   British   manufactures   excluded  from  all  the 


\ 


y 


/ 


274  HISTORY  OP   GERMAXY.  [PERIOD  VII 

I  L  ^ 

a  peace  with  Austria.  Soon  after  this  battle,  which 
Nai)oleon  called  ''the  battle  of  the  three  Emperors,"  a 
treaty  of  peace  was  signed  at  Presburg  (26th  December 
1805),  by  which  Austria  gave  up  the  Tyrol  to  Bavaria, 
her  Swabian  possessions  to  Wurtemberg  and  Baden,  and 
her  Venetian  dominions  to  Bonaparte,  as  King  of  Italy. 
The  Emperor  of  Russia  withdrew  his  troops  into  his  own 
teiTitories.  The  King  of  Prussia,  who  had  remained 
neutml  in  this  contest,  received  Hanover  as  the  reward 
of  his  neutrality;  or,  as  is  most  probable,  that  electorate 
was  conferred  on  him  for  the  pui7)ose  of  placing  his 
interests  in  opposition  to  those  of  the  King  of  England, 
who,  it  could  not  be  doubted,  would  seize  the  first  oppor- 
tunity of  reclaiming  his  ancient  inheritance. 

Thus  rapidly  was  this  coalition  dissolved  in  a  short 
campaign,  which  proved  universally  successful,  except  on 
that  element  in  which  the  power  of  England  still  reigned 
without  a  rival.  Encouraged  by  her  naval  victory  of 
Trafalgar,  England  continued  the  struggle,  and  decided 
Prussia  to  descend  into  the  arena. 

Confederation  of  the  Rhine  —  Dissolution  of  the 
Germanic  Empire.—On  the  12th  of  July  180G,  sixteen 
of  the  German  princes  solemnly  renounced  their  fealty  to 
the  empire,  and  formed  a  league  called  the  Confederation 
of  the  Rhine,  and  placed  themselves  under  the  protection 
of  Napoleon.  On  the  1st  of  August  he  declared  the 
German  Empire  at  an  end;  and  five  days  later,  Francis 
II.,  on  laying  aside  that  dishonoured  crown  of  the  ancient 
empire,  which,  1006  yeai^  previously,  Charlemagne  had 
placed  on  his  own  brow — assumed  the  title  of  Emperor 
of  Austria.*    Thus  was  extinguished,  after  having  lasted 

*  The  family  from  wliicli  the  imperial  dynasty  of  Austria 
sprang  in  the  seventh  century  was  that  of  the  House  of  Hapsburg. 
Hapsburg  was  an  ancient  castle  in  Switzerland,  on  a  lofty  eminence 
near  Schintznach.  In  1156,  the  Margraviate  of  Hapsburg  was 
made  an  hereditary  duchij  by  the  Emperor  Frederick  I.,  and,  in 
1453,  it  was  raised  to  an  archduchy  by  the  Emperor  Frederick 
III.  Rodolph,  Count  of  Hapsburg,  having  been  elected  Emperor 
of  Germany  in  1273,  acquired  Austria  in  1278;  and,  from  141)3  to 
1804,  his  descendants  were  Emperors  of  Germany. 


\ 


I7S9-1S15.]      CONFEDERATION   OF   THE    RHINE. 


275 


SO  many  ages,  the  Holy  Roman  Empire,  more  properly 
called  the  Germanic  Empire.  Prussia,  which  had  been 
too  much  alarmed  by  the  rapid  progress  of  the  French 
armies  in  Germany  to  dare  to  break  her  neutrality, 
now  entered  into  a  league  with  Russia,  and  took  arms  to 
descend  into  the  arena.  The  establishment  of  the  Rhenish 
Confederation  was  view^ed  as  at  once  an  attack  and  an 
insult  upon  Prussia. 

That  Confederation  completed  anothergreat  step  to^vards 
universal  domination.  Napoleon  was  now  master  of  Italy 
and  Dalnijitia;  he  had  humbled  Austria  and  overturned 
the  first  throne  of  Christendom;  he  w^as  the  Protector  and 
Dictator  of  a  great  part  of  Germany.  The  ej^och  of  the 
Austrian  war  and  humiliation  of  the  Emperor  was  also 
marked  by  the  deposition  of  the  Pope. 

The  result  of  this  ill-advised  attempt  of  Prussia  to 
avenge  an  insult  by  a  declaration  of  war  w^as  what  might 
have  been  anticipated.  Napoleon  replied  to  the  provoca- 
tion of  the  Berlin  cabinet  by  a  thunderbolt.  He  gave 
the  allied  armies  no  time  to  unite  their  forces,  but  con- 
centrating his  o^vn  great  army  still  in  Germany,  he  fell 
upon  the  Prussians.  Two  terrible  blows  were  strjuck  at 
Auerstadt  and  Jena.  A  portion  of  the  Prussian  army 
was  at  Auerstadt,  under  the  command  of  the  Duke  of 
Bnmswick;  and  the  other,  under  the  orders  of  the  Prince 
of  Hohenlohe,  was  stationed  at  Jena,  but  both  without 
acting  in  combination  with  each  other;  and  they  w^ere 
accordingly  attacked  and  decisively  defeated  on  the  same 
day.  Marshal  Davoust  fought  at  Auerstadt,  and  Napoleon 
in  pei^son  at  Jena.  In  a  month  (8th  November),  the 
Prussian  monarchy  had  ceased  to  exist.  Ten  days  after 
the  battle  of  Jena,  Napoleon  marched  into  Berlin,  and 
from  Potsdam  he  took  the  sword  of  Frederick  the  Great. 
Encouraged  by  his  success,  he  declared  in  Berlin  that  he 
would  never  give  up  that  city  until  he  had  conquered  a 
general  peace;  and  it  was  from  that  same  city  he  issued 
the  decree  (21st  November  1806)  against  the  English, 
by  which  the  British  Islands  were  declared  in  a  state  oi 
blockade,   British   manufactures   excluded  from  all  the 


276 


HISTORY  OF  GERMANY.  [I'ERIOD  VIII. 


continental  ports,  all  British  property  on  the  continent, 
and  vessels  that  had  only  even  touched  on  the  shores 
of  Albion,  were  to  bo  seized.  As  Nai)oleon  could  not 
reach  England  with  the  sword,  he  thought  to  crush  her 
by  stifling  her  commerce.  But  the  results,  as  it  turned 
out,  were  more  injurious  to  the  continent.  A  similar 
decree  was  issued  from  Milan. 


ROYAL  PALACE,    BEELIN'. 

Battles  of  Eylau  and  Friedland.— From  Prussia, 
Napoleon  marched  soon  afterwards  against  the  Eussian 
armies  in  Poland.  There  too  he  was  succes.sful,  after  a 
long  and  harder  contest,  defeating  them  at  Eylau  (8th 
February  1807),  and  at  Friedland  (14th  June).  The 
Emperor  Alexander  then  entered  into  negotiations,  and 
a  peace  was  concluded  at  Tilsit,  on  the  Niemen  (July  7). 
By  the  terms  of  this  peace  the  King  of  Prussia  was 
stripped  of  almost  half  his  dominions.  These  spoils  of 
Prussia  were  given  to  Saxony  and  Westphalia,  two  new 
kingdoms  now  created  by  Napoleon.  In  the  electorate 
of  Saxony  the  Elector  was  made  King,  and  Prussian 


1789-1815.]        MSING   IJJ   PORTUGAL  AND   St>AW.  277 

Poland  was  added  to  his  dominions.  Jerome  Bonaparte 
was  made  King  of  Westphalia.  Having  made  these  dis- 
positions. Napoleon  returned  in  triumph  to  Pans  beanng 
with  him  the  sword  of  Frederick  the  Great,  and  the  car 
with  its  bronze  hoi-ses  which  had  ornamented  the  i>ran- 
denburg  gate  of  Berlin.  . 

Conquests  of  Napoleon.— Nai)oleons  empire,  whicli 
extended  from  the  mouths  of  the  Elbe  to  those  ot  the 
Tiber  included  130  departments.     This  was  the  moment 
of  his  greatest  ascendancy.    Every  power  of  the  contmciit 
that  had  dared  to  resist  the  arms  of  France  was  at  t.i  is 
time  prosti-ated  by  continual  defeats.      Liigland  aloiio 
remained   inaccessible.      The  invasion  of  that  country 
w.as  a  favourite  project  with  the  daring  and  brilliant  con- 
queror: but  a  project  much  too  dangerous  to  be  attemptcil 
without  first  acquiring  a  great  maritime  power.      Ho 
therefore  had  recourse  to  the  system,  already  mentioned, 
which  has  been  commonly  called  the  continental  blockade. 
Russia  and  Denmark  took  part  witli  him  m  this  policy, 
which  required  them  to  break  ofi'  all  communication  witi. 
England:  and  at  length  those  powers  joined  Fmncc  open.y 
in  the  war.     This  juncture  discloses  also  a  new  scene  ot 
events  which,    necessarily   withdraws    attention,   for   a 
short  time,  from  the  politics  of  the  nortliem  powers  ot 

■^"Thr'Risinff  in  Portugal  and  Spain.-Portugal  refus- 

in-  to  associate  herself  with  this  new  policy.  Napoleon, 
in'concert  with  diaries  IV.,  King  of  Spain,  sent  an  amy 
under  Junot  to  invade  Portugal,  and  drive  the  English 
one  of  her  oldest  allies,  out  of  that  kingdom     Tlie  Prince 
Recent  of  Portugal  sailed  for  Brazil,  and  the  Frend 
t  oops  took  posses^sion  of  Lisbon  (30tli  November  18.M  ^ 
Durin"  these  opei-ations,  the  court  of  Madrid  presented 
to  the  worid  a  most  sorrowful  spectacle.  .  ^e  hereditary 
prince  was  conspiring  against  his  father  influenced  by  an 
unworthy  favourite;  and  the  King  invoked  the  aid  of  the 
French  Emperor.     Napoleon  met  the  King  ami  Pnnce 
at  Bavonne  and  decided  the  old  monarch  to  abdicate  m 
bisfthe  Emperor's,  favour  (9th  May  1808),  who  placed 


278 


illSTOUY   OF   GEHMANY.  LPElllOD  VIII. 


on  tlie  throne  his  brother  Joseph,  King  of  Naples.  This 
attempt  to  lay  hands  upon  Spain  was  Napoleon's  greatest 
fault,  and  one  of  the  causes  of  tlie  fall  of  the  empii-e.  The 
Spaniards,  indignant  at  the  insult  oflfered  to  their  country 
by  thus  elevating  a  foreigner  to  the  throne,  rose  with 
enthusiasm  to  repel  the  intrusion.  Imploring  the  aid  of 
England,  an  English  army,  under  the  command  of  Sir 
Arthur  Wellesley  (afterwards  Marquis  and  Duke  of 
Wellington),  was  promptly  dispatched  to  assist  these 
struggles  in  the  Peninsula.  Junot  was  forced  to  evacuate 
Portugal,  and  nearly  at  the  same  time  Joseph  quitted 
Madrid.  In  November  1808,  however,  Napoleon  him- 
self entered  Spain,  and  soon  made  himself  master  of  the 
greater  part  of  the  country.  Madrid  submitted  to  him, 
December  4. 

Austria  rises  against  Napoleon. — In  spite  of  the 
success  with  which  the  French  arms  had  thus  been  almost 
everywhere  crowned,  the  resistance  they  had  met  with  in 
Spain  taught  the  Emperor  of  Austria  how  much  might 
be  effected  by  the  swords  of  a  united  people,  and  awakened 
the  slumbering  spiiit  of  the  other  powers  of  the  continent. 
The  natives  of  Germany,  it  was  hoped,  thoroughly  weary 
of  the  French  yoke,  would  patriotically  answer  the  sum- 
mons of  Austria.  The  commercial  interests  of  the  whole 
of  Europe  were  almost  ruined  by  the  effect  of  those 
decrees  which  precluded,  or  at  least  extremely  embar- 
rassed, the  trade  with  England ;  and  the  Emj^eror  Francis 
was  impatient  under  his  i)ast  losses,  and  eager  to  redeem 
them.  In  the  spring  of  1809,  the  Tyrol  revolted.  The 
Westphalians  expelled  King  Jerome  from  his  new  domin- 
ions, and  it  was  believed  that  Pnissia  was  ready  to  take 
advantage  of  the  first  reverses  of  Napoleon  to  join  her 
forces  to  those  of  the  Austrians.  Unhappily  the  move- 
ments of  Austria  were  so  slow  as  to  allow  Napoleon  time 
to  return  from  Madrid  into  Germany,  and  place  himself 
at  the  head  of  the  Khenish  Confederacy.  "  I  come  not,"  he 
said,  "as  Emperor  of  France — I  stand  here  as  the  protector 
of  your  land  and  of  the  German  league.  Not  a  French 
soldier  is  among  us.     Alone  you  shall  beat  the  enemy." 


1780-1815.] 


THE   RUSSIAN   CAMPAIGN. 


272 


In  the  month  of  April  180D,  Napoleon  five  times  defeated 
the  Austrians,  gainmg  successive  victories  at  Eckmuhl 
and  Essling;  a  second  time  took  possession  of  Vienna; 
and,  though  beaten  in  a  terrible  engagement  at  Asperne. 
where,  for  the  first  time,  Napoleon  was  completely  over- 
thrown, he,  a  short  time  afterwards,  conquered  at  the 
bloody  battle  of  Wagram  (6th  July).  He  then  dictated 
a  peace,  called  the  Peace  of  Schonbriin,  which  was  signed, 
October  14,  1809. 
Napoleon  at  the  Summit  of  Power  (1810-1812).— 

The  Continent  was  now  again  prostrate  at  the  feet  oi 
Napoleon.  The  Tyrol  was  given  up  to  devastation;  the 
Pope  dethroned;  Bernadotte,  a  French  general,  was 
elected  successor  to  the  throne  of  Sweden;  and  Louis, 
King  of  Holland,  although  brother  to  the  French  Emperor, 
yet  being  thought  to  allow  of  a  freer  intercourse  with 
England  than  the  jealousy  of  Napoleon  would  tolerate, 
was  dispossessed  of  his  kingdom,  and  the  Dutch  territories 
were  incorporated  with  France.  Now  also  Napoleon 
allied  himself  by  marriage  with  the  most  ancient  and 
illustrious  house  in  Europe.  He  divorced  the  Empress 
Josephine,  and  was  united  to  Marie  Louisa,  Archduchess 
of  Austria,  a  daughter  of  the  Emperor  Francis  II.  (March 
11,1810).  In  the  following  year  the  birth  of  a  son  (March 
20),  to  whom  was  given  the  title  of  King  of  Rome, 
swelled  to  the  utmost  the  tide  of  his  prosperity. 

The  Russian  Campaign  (1812).— By  the  Peace  of 
Schonbriin,  Napoleon  had  reached  such  a  climax  of  suc- 
cess, that  all  hope  appeared  then  lost  of  ever  seeing  his 
power  broken.  But  even  amidst  all  the  glory  and  triumph 
and  prosperity  which  he  enjoyed  during  the  brief  interval 
aftbrded  by  this  peace,  a  new  war  was  preparing.  The 
Emperor  of  Bussia,  during  the  French  campaign  against 
Austria,  which  ended  in  the  disaster  of  Wagram,  main- 
tained the  alliance  he  had  contracted  at  Tilsit,  though 
lie  repented  of  a  policy  which  appeared  daily  to  add  new 
strength  to  the  overbearing  power  of  France.  In  the 
latter  part  of  1810,  he  renewed  his  intercourse  with  Eng- 
land ;  and  during  that  year  both  he  and  Napoleon  pre- 


2S0 


niSTOIlY  OP   GERMANr.  [PERIOD  VIlI. 


nso-isi5.] 


THE   GERMAN   CAMPAIGN. 


281 


pared  for  a  contest,  which,  through  the  latter's  rashness 
and  unprincipled  ambition,  was  destined  to  prove  the  chief 
cause  of  his  min,  by  enabling  Germany  to  cast  off"  the 
yoke  he  had  imposed  upon  her.  Already  his  arms 
were  no  longer  invincible.  In  Spain,  Junot,  Massena 
himself,  had  not  been  able  to  conquer  Portugal,  and 
General  Dupont  had  signed  his  disgraceful  capitulation 
of  Baylen.  The  hopes  of  his  enemies  brightened,  and 
En^^land  once  more  succeeded  in  detaching  Eiissia  from 

his  alliance. 

To  constrain  that  power  to  re-enter  the  system  of  the 
continental  blockade,  Napoleon  entered  upon  the  rashest 
of  entei-prises.  On  the  24th  June  1812,  he  crossed  the 
Niemen,  at  the  head  of  450,000  men.  He  thereupon  issued 
a  proclamation,"  in  which  he  declared  war  against  Eussia. 
The  expedition  appeared  at  first  to  succeed.  The  Russians 
were  everywhere  beaten;  at  Witepsk,  at  Smolensk,  at 
Yaloutina.  On  the  7th  September,  he  engaged  in  a  great 
battle  with  the  Eussian  army,  near  Borodino,  a  viUage 
in  the  environs  of  Moscow.  This  sanguinary  battle 
proved  indecisive,  but,  a  few  days  afterwards,  Kutusoff, 
the  Eussian  general,  thought  it  expedient  to  retreat  and 
deliver  up  Moscow,  the  second  capital  of  the  empire,  to 
Napoleon,  which  city  the  Eussian  governor  caused  to  be 
set  on  fire  on  quitting  it. 

Napoleon  had  thus  far  triumphed,  but  this  was  the 
term  fixed  by  Providence  of  his  success.  He  installed 
himself  inauspiciously  in  the  Kremlin  (the  ancient  palace 
of  the  Czars),  when  the  flames  of  the  burnt  city  had 
exhausted  themselves.  But  the  Eussian  power  was  still 
unbroken;  his  communication  with  France  would  soon 
be  cut  oft';  and  the  vast  armies  of  the  enemy  advance  on 
liim  in  the  spring.  All  this  was  obvious.  Yet  he  hoped 
that  the  eclat  of  his  conquest  would  now  induce  Alexander 
to  seek  for  peace.  Failing  in  this  hope,  he  himself  pro- 
posed to  negotiate;  but  was  answered  promptly,  that  no 
terms  could  be  entered  into  while  an  enemy  remained  in 
the  Eussian  temtories.  After  twice  renewing  the  same 
proposal,  and  with  the  same  ill  success,  Napoleon,  though 


in  the  face  of  a  Eussian  winter,  which  that  year  com- 
menced earlier  than  ordinary,  determined  to  begin  his 
retreat.  The  circumstances  of  that  calamitous  retreat  are 
well  known.  A  great  part  of  the  army,  all  the  horses, 
all  the  baggage,  perished  or  were  abandoned,  either  amidst 
the  snow,  or  in  the  disastrous  passage  of  the  Beresina. 
Napoleon  himself,  on  the  5th  December,  set  out  on  a 
sledge  for  Paris,  whilst  the  relics  of  his  army  arrived  on 
the  12th  at  Kowno,  the  same  place  where,  six  months 
before,  they  had  crossed  the  Niemen  in  their  invasion  of 
Eussia.  How  different  the  state  in  which  they  now  re- 
crossed  it !  Of  half  a  million  of  men,  including  Prussians 
and  Austrians,  who  are  supposed  to  have  engaged  in  this 
disastrous  expedition,  not  50,000,  it  is  calculated,  escaped 
death  or  captivity.  However,  those  of  the  soldiers  who 
still  remained  in  arms  resisted  every  attempt  to  disperse 
them,  and  Napoleon,  on  reaching  Paris,  made  immense 
preparations  towards  repairing  his  losses. 

But  it  was  all  over  with  the  prestige  of  his  invincible 
power.  All  his  allies  turned  one  after  another  against 
him.  General  York,  who  commanded  thci  Prussian  army 
had  no  sooner  gained  the  frontiers  of  his  own  country 
than  he  abandoned  the  French,  and  proposed  to  the  King 
that  he  should  immediately  join  the  Eussians;  a  suggestion 
which  Frederick  William  adopted  without  hesitation,  in 
the  hope  that  was  now  given  of  crushing  for  ever  the 
insatiable  ambition  of  the  French  Emperor.  Sweden  also 
acceded  to  this  new  coalition,  but  Austria  showed  much 
tergiversation. 

The  German  Campaign— Battles   of   Gross-Beeren 

and  Lutzen.— Though  France  was  able  to  march  a  very 
large  and  powerful  force  into  Germany  early  in  the  spring, 
new  enemies  had  arisen  in  the  meantime.  The  coalition 
confronted  Napoleon  with  500,000  soldiers,  1500  guns, 
and  a  reserve,  ready  to  bring  into  line,  of  250,000  more. 
Two  Frenchmen  were  in  its  ranks :  the  Prince-royal  of 
Sweden,  Bernadotte,  and  the  victor  of  Hohenlinden, 
Moreau,  who,  at  the  invitation  of  the  Empress  of  Eussia, 
had  returned  from  America  to  aim  a  deadly  blow  against 


/ 


2S^  11  [STORY   OP   GERMANY.  [PERIOD  VllJ. 

his  countiy.*    Nevertheless,  Napoleon  was  stUl  alert  and 
intrepid.     On  May  2,  1813,  he  gained  a  victory  over  the 
Russians  and  Prussians  at  Lutzen.     On  the  20th  and 
21st,  lie  gained  another  at  Bautzen.     The  Emperor  of 
Austria  then  proposed  a  mediation.     An  armistice  wag 
concluded  on  the  4th  June,  and  a  congi-ess  assembled  at 
Prague  to  take  into  consideration  terms  of  peace.     The 
terms  proposed  were,  that  the  French  empire  should  be 
bounded  by  the  Alps,  the  Eliino,  and  the  Mouse,  and  that 
the  German  States  should  be  restored  to  their  indejjend- 
ence.     These  terms  were  positively  rejected  by  Bonaparte, 
and  the  armistice  terminated  August  10.     Immediately 
afterwards  Austria  joined  the  confederates. 

The  French  Emperor  had  upon  the  Elbe  and  under 
hand  only  360,000  men;  still,  however,  presuming  too 
far  upon  his  strength,  notwithstanding  the  inequality  of 
numbers,  and  that  his  battalions  were  mostly  filled  by 
conscripts,  he  dared  to  threaten  at  one  and  the  same  time 
Berlin,  Breslau,  and  Prague;  which  enfeebled  him  at  hi? 
centre,  at  Dresden,  where,  however,  in  a  great  battle 
near  that  city  on  the  26th  and  27th  August,  Napoleon 
defeated  the  allies  and  compelled  them  to  retreat.     But 
whilst  the  great  army  of  Bohemia  was  in  disorderly  flight 
across  the  mountains  whence  it  had  descended,  Napoleon 
learned  that  Macdonald  had  just  sustained  a  disaster  at 
Katzbach  (26th-29th  August),  and  that  Oudinot  had  been 
beaten  on  the  23rd  at  Gross-Beeren,  upon  his  march  to 
Berlin,  and  that  Bavaria  had  joined  the  coalition.    These 
bad  tidings  prevented  him  from  following  up  in  person  the 
pursuit  of  the  defeated  army  and  overwhelming  it.    Van- 
damme,  operating  in  Bohemia,  but  not  being  supported, 
was  crushed  at  Kulm  (30th  August),  which  nullified  the 
victory  at  Dresden  by  leaving  to  the  Austrians  the  bul- 
wark of  the  Bohemian  Mountains,  with  the  facility  of 
issuing  therefrom  at  will  in  order  to  turn  the  right  of  the 

*  AVhilst  Moreau  was  in  the  act  of  indicating  to  the  Emperor 
Alexander  a  certain  niananivre  to  be  carried  out,  a  cannon  ball 
from  Napoleon's  artillery  of  the  guard  broke  both  liia  thi<'ha. 
He  died  four  days  afterwards.  ° 


1789-1815.] 


TUE   GERMAN   CAiirAIG>r. 


283 


French  army.  The  defeat  of  Macdonald  had  lost  Silesia 
and  brought  Bliicher  into  Saxony;  that  of  Oudinot  and 
another  sustained  by  Ney  at  Dennewitz  (6th  September), 
in  attempting  to  re-open  the  road  to  Berlin,  allowed 
Bernadotte  to  reach  Wittenberg,  whence  he  joined  hands 
with  Bliicher.  Davout,  who  was  already  in  the  middle 
of  Mecklenburg,  where  he  had  taken  Wismar,  was  forced 
to  follow  the  general  movement  of  retreat  beyond  the 
Elbe.  Thus,  from  Wittenberg  to  Toeplitz,  the  forces  of 
the  coalition  formed  a  segment  of  a  circle  bristling  with 
300,000  sabres  and  bayonets  threatening  the  front  of  the 
French,  at  the  same  time  that  its  extremities  made  efforts 
to  join  I'anks  in  the  rear  of  Napoleon,  with  the  intention 
of  cutting  off  his  return  to  France.  Thus  brought  to  bay, 
the  French  Emperor  once  again  attempted  to  cut  his  way 
through  the  encircling  enemy.  On  Na2)oleon  concentrat- 
ing his  forces  round  Leipzic,  that  city  being  in  the  occu- 
pation of  the  French,  the  allied  army  was  immediately 
formed  into  a  crescent,  having  a  single  02)ening  to  the 
south-west,  which  they  intended  to  fill  up  on  the  arrival 
of  the  Swedish  army,  under  Bernadotte,  and  the  Russian 
and  Austrian  divisions  of  Bennigsen  and  Colloredo. 
With  such  dispositions,  Bonaparte  resolved  to  stand  the 
hazard  of  a  general  engagement,  and  on  the  IGth  of  Oct. 
was  fought  what  the  Germans  have  called  the  Battle  of 
the  Nations — a  conflict  the  most  murderous  of  modern 
history;  190,000  Frenchmen  sustaining,  during  three 
days,  the  furious  attacks  of  133,000  allied  enemies.  The 
Saxons  and  Wurtemberg  cavalry  went  over  to  the  enemy 
upon  the  field  of  battle,  and  fired  their  cannon  already 
loaded  with  French  balls  uj)on  the  French  soldiery.  So 
great  was  the  vibration  caused  by  the  discharge  of  at 
least  1200  pieces  of  artillery,  that  "the  ground  shook 
and  reeled  as  with  an  earthquake."  At  the  end  of  the 
third  day's  struggle  the  reserves  of  the  French  artillery 
were  exliausted,  there  remaining  munitions  for  only  15,000 
discharges,  that  is  to  say,  for  two  hours'  further  combat; 
and  the  numbers  of  their  enemies  were  incessantly  increas- 
ing.    As  in  1812,  the  great  captain  was  compelled  to  fall 


284 


llISTOIlY   O^   (SfillMAS*^.         [PERtOt)  Villi 


back  without  having  been  conquered,  which  voluntary 
retreat  became  a  disaster;  so  in  1813  also  that  retreat 
involved  a  catastrophe  only  less  calamitous  than  that  of 
Moscow,  because  a  less  distance  was  to  be  crossed  before 
he  could  reach  a  place  of  safety;  and  because  he  had  not 
now  to  contend  with  the  climate  of  Russia,  or  with  the 
hardships  of  a  rigorous  season.     Napoleon,  with  a  view 
not  to  reveal  too  plainly  his  intentions,  had  not  caused 
bridges  to  be  thrown  over  the  Elster  and  Pleisse ;  one 
only,  long  and  narrow,  had  been  constmcted  at  the  divided 
branches  of  the  two  rivers.     Therefrom  arose  a  great 
obstacle  to  the  crossing  of  the  troops,  delay,  and  then  a 
fatal  error.     Soon  after  Napoleon  had  crossed,  a  miner 
blew  up  the  Elster  bridge  before  the  last  division  of  the 
army  with  two  marshals  and  many  commanders  of  corps 
had  cleared  it;  so  that  25,000  men  were  in  consequence 
cut  to  pieces,  taken  prisoners  by  the  allies,  or  drowned  in 
the  river.     Macdonald  swam  across  it;   Lauriston  and 
Eeynier  were  made  prisoners;  the  valiant  Poniatowsky, 
after  fighting  bravely  until  the  streets  of  Leipzic  were 
strewn  with  the  bodies  of  his  soldiers,  retreated  towards 
the  Elster;  but  finding  the  bridge  destroyed,  he  tried  tu 
swim  his  horse  across  the  stream.     But  the  bank  being 
steep  on  the  other  side,  the  horse,  in  attempting  to  clear 
it.,  fell  back  on  his  rider,  and  both  were  drowned.     Soon 
alter  the  evacuation  by  the  French,  the  two  Emperors 
and  the  King  of  Prussia  entered  Leipzic,  amidst  the 
acclamations  of  the  grateful  citzens  (19th  October).     On 
the  7th  November,  Napoleon  crossed  the  llhine  at  Mentz, 
and  two  days  afterwards  arrived  in  Paris. 

Campaign  of  1814— Invasion  of  France.— Another 

period  of  war  was  about  to  scourge  the  nations  of  Europe. 
Yet  the  naked  sword  of  vengeance  was  now  visibly  sus- 
pended over  the  head  of  that  iron-hearted  man,  whose 
insatiable  ambition  still  urged  him  to  further  sacrifice  to 
it  innumerable  victims.  Napoleon  had  scarcely  crossed 
the  Rhine  when  the  whole  of  the  Rhenish  confederacy 
abandoned  him— an  example  soon  followed  by  Holland, 
Switzerland,  and  Italy.    The  tide  of  war,  which  since  tho 


h\ 


17891815.] 


INVASION  OP   FRANCE 


285 


revolution  had  overflowed  Germany  and  the  surrounding 
nations,  was  now  rolled  back  on  France  itself.  At  the 
commencement  of  1814,  four  armies  invaded  that  country  . 
from  different  quarters,  and  advanced  into  the  heart  of 
France.  On  the  1st  January,  Bliicher  crossed  the  Rhine 
with  the  Prussian  army  of  the  centre,  that  nation  bringing 
into  the  field  130,000''men,  the  Austrians  and  Russians, 
advancing  on  the  Swiss  frontier,  150,000;  Bernadotte 
with  100,000  by  way  of  the  Netherlands.  At  the  same 
time  the  Austrians  had  another  army  in  Italy.  Murat, 
King  of  Naples,  also  joined  the  confederates,  and  Lord 
Wellington  was  already  upon  French  territory  with 
80,000  English,  Spaniards,  and  Portuguese.^  Finally, 
the  German  Empire  placed  on  foot  from  150,000  to 
160,000  men,  in  eight  divisions.  Half  a  million  of  men 
at  least,  therefore,  were  steadily  about  to  hem  in  the 
French  army,  whilst  the  forces  of  the  latter  could  not 
have  amounted  to  so  much  as  half  the  strength  of  its 

adversaries. 

Opposed  by  so  many  and  such  formidable  foes.  Napoleon 
appeared  not  to  lose  either  his  courage  or  his  military 
genius.  He  disconcerted  the  allies  by  the  rapidity  of  his 
movements,  and  gained  several  brilliant  successes;  which, 
though  they  did  not  carry  with  them  any  lasting  advan- 
tage, made  his  enemies  still  doubtful  of  the  result.  On 
the  29th  of  January,  Blucher  was  attacked  by  Napoleon 
near  Brienne  so  suddenly  that  he  narrowly  escaped  being 
taken  prisoner.  Negotiations  for  a  peace  were  however 
commenced  at  Chatillon  early  in  February  1814;  but  the 
insincerity  which  marked  the  conduct  of  the  French  com- 
missioners prevented  them  from  coming  to  any  conclusion. 
Napoleon  had  at  length  beaten  his  enemies  into  the  art 
of  conquering,  so  that  whilst  he  was  manoBuvring  in  their 
rear,  the  Prussians  and  Austrians  made  a  rush  on  Paris, 
which  fell  almost  without  resistance,  capitulated  (30th 
March),  and  the  Senate  decreed  the  imperial  crown  for- 
ieited,  and  the  empire  fallen.  Napoleon  abdicated  (11th 
April),  and  Louis  XVIII.  was  recalled  from  exile  to 
ascend  the  throne  of  his  ancestors.     The  ex-Emperor  had 


286 


HISTORY   OP   GERMAXY.  [PERIOD  VIII« 


1789-1815.] 


BATTLE   OF   WATERLOO. 


287 


assigned  to  him  tlie  island  of  Elba  as  an  independent 
sovereignty,  with  a  pension  of  two  millions  of  fiancs.  Tho 
duchies  of  Parma  and  Placentia  were  settled  on  his  wife 
and  son. 

The  Peace  of  Paris.— On  the  4th  May  1814,  the  whito 
banner  of  the  Bourbons  replaced  the  tricolor  of  Austerlitz, 
and,  on  the  30th  of  the  same  month,  Talleyrand,  the  real 
head  of  the  provisional  government,  signed  with  the  allies 
a  convention,  with  the  view  of  afibrding  France  the 
benefits  of  peace  before  a  regular  treaty  could  be  pre- 
]^ared.  The  allies,  by  their  celebrated  Declciration  of 
Fmnhfort  (1st  December  1813),  had  announced  their 
wish  to  see  France  great,  powerful,  and  happy,  because 
she  was  one  of  the  corner  stones  of  the  Euro]  )ean  system ; 
and  they  agreed,  therefore,  to  evacuate  the  French  terri- 
tory, according  to  the  ancient  limits  of  it,  on  January  1, 
1792,  but  with  some  few  additions,  partly  in  the  Nether- 
lands, and  partly  in  Savoy.  The  terms,  indeed,  were  so 
highly  f\ivourable  to  France  that  tlie  veteran  Bliicher, 
amongst  some  other  provisions,  protested  vehemently  but 
ineffectually  against  the  French  being  allowed  to  retail, 
the  German  provinces  of  LoiTaine  and  Alsace.  Thus 
vanished  with  the  stroke  of  a  pen  the  fruits  of  twenty 
years  of  bloodshed  and  conquest ! 

Congress  of  Vienna— The  Return  from  Elba- The 

Hundred  Days  (20th  March- 22nd  June).— In  order  to 
settle  the  general  affairs  of  Europe,  it  had  been  deter- 
mined to  assemble  a  Congress  at  Vienna,  which  was 
formally  opened  November  1,  1814.  While  the  leading 
powers  were  thus  endeavouring  to  restore  Europe  to  its 
ancient  system,  an  event  occurred  which  threatened  to 
render  all  their  deliberations  useless.  Napoleon,  esca})ing 
from  Elba  with  900  of  his  veterans,  landed  near  Cannes, 
in  the  Gulf  of  Juan,  March  1,  1815.  The  army  every- 
where declared  in  his  favour,  and  almost  the  whole  of  the 
civil  authoiities  readily  acknowledging  his  cause,  Napoleon 
was  thus  once  more  seated  on  his  abdicated  throne  by  the 
most  rapid  transition  known  in  history  (20th  March). 
The  news  of  this  event  fell  like  a  thunderbolt  amoni;  the 


\ 


)i 


I 


statesmen  assembled  at  Vienna.  The  allied  powers  a-ree- 
ing  unanimously  that  they  would  have  neither  peace'nor 
truce  with  the  violator  of  treaties,  it  became  evident, 
tJierefore  that  there  must  be  another  appeal  to  the  sword 
and  both  parties  made  the  most  gigantic  preparations. 
Ihe  thi^ee  allied  sovereigns  and  the  Prince  Ee-ent  of 
England  launched  afresh  800,000  men  against  France, 
and  i^laced  Bonaparte  under  the  ban  of  the  nations. 


-a 


VIENNA. 

The  usurper  had  tried  to  rally  round  him  the  liberals, 
by  proposing  institutions  of  a  nature  favourable  to  liberty* 
and  similar  to  those  of  Louis's  constitutional  charter! 
But  he  clearly  saw  that  his  real  strength  lay  in  his  army; 
and  it  w\as  plain,  that  if  victory  should  restore  his 
authority,  all  the  national  and  civil  institutions  would 
again  bend  before  his  v/ill. 

The  Campaign  of  Four  Days— Battle  of  Waterloo 

(18th  June  1815).— About  the  middle  of  April,  Bliiclier 
marched  into  the  Netherlands  and  established  liis  head- 
quarters at  Li6ge,  and  early  in  June  he  found  himself  at 


283 


I 


niSTORY   OF   GERMANY.  [PERIOD  VIII. 


the  head  of  an  army  of  117,000  men,  with  which  he 
occupied  the  country  between  the  Sambre  and  the  Meuse, 
while  the  Duke  of  Wellington  with  100,000  occupied  the 
whole  of  Flanders  from  Brussels  to  the  sea.     Napoleon, 
with  his  characteristic  decision  and  promptitude,  put  him- 
self at  the  head  of  150,000  selected  troops,  and  rapidly 
advanced  against  the  Prussians.     In  the  afternoon  of  the 
16th,  Napoleon,  with  124,000  men,  advanced  to  attack 
Bliicher's  position  at  Ligny.     The  Prussians  fought  with 
their  accustomed  bi-avery,  and  for  five  houi^s  maintained 
their  ground;  but  at  about  seven  o'clock  in  the  evening, 
a  vigorous  charge,  lead  by  Napoleon  in  person,  threw 
their  infantry  into  irretrievable  disorder.     Bliicher,  at 
the  head  of  his  light  cavalry,  now  attacked  the  heavy 
French  dragoons;  but  as  he  galloped  forward,  cheering 
on  his  men,  his  horse,  struck  by  a  cannon-ball,  fell  to 
the  ground,  crushing  the  rider  beneath  its  body.     The 
remnant  of  his  army  retreated  in  tolerable  order,  and  left 
no  troi)hy  to  the  enemy  but  the  field  of  battle.     On  the 
same  day  at  Quatre   Bras,  Marshal   Ney  had  a  severe 
sti-uggle  with  the  English,  under  the  Prince  of  Orange, 
in  wJiich  neither  party  gained  complete  superiority.     In 
this  action  the  Duke  of  Brunswick  was  killed — the  son 
of  that  duke  who  had  commanded  the  Prussian  army  in 
the  war  which  broke  out  at  the  commencement  of  the 
revolution.     Both  these  actions  are  memorable  as  the 
precursors  of  the  decisive  battle  which  followed  on  the 
18tli,    at   Waterloo,    and    which    terminated    for    ever 
Napoleon's  eventful  career.     Never,  perhaps,  was   any 
defeat  more  bloody  or  more  disastrous  than  that  w^hich 
lie  was  there  destined  to  sustain.     He  had  issued  his 
orders,  and  viewed  the  battle  from  a  convenient  distance ; 
and  an  officer  who  stood  near  him  affirmed  that  *'  his 
astonishment  at  the  resistance  of  the  British  was  extreme; 
his  agitation  became  violent ;  he  took  snuff  by  handfuls 
at  the  repulse  of  each  charge."     At  last,  he  took  the 
officer  by  the  arm,  saying,  "  The  affair  is  over — we  have 
lost  the  day — let  us  be  off!"     In  this  heartless  mannei*, 
and  thinking  only  of  himself,  Napoleon  abandoned  an 


1789-1815.]        THE   GERMANIC   CONFEDERATION'.  289 

army  which  was  wholly  devoted  to  him.     Such  was  that 
campaign  of  four  days. 

The  defeated  Emperor  reached  Paris  on  the  20th  June 

and  again  abdicated  in  favour  of  his  son  (22nd)     On  the 

29th  he  set  out  for  Rochefort,  in  the  hope  of  escaping  to 

America;  but  finding  that  it  was  impossible  to  baffle  the 

vigilance  of  the  English  cruisers,  he  surrendered  himself 

to  Captain  Maitland,  of  the  Bellerophon.    When  the  allies 

I      were  informed  of  this  event,  they  decided  that  he  should 

)       be  sent  as  a  prisoner  to  the  Island  of  St.  Helena,  in  the 

/      Southern  Atlantic.     There  he  died  (5th  May  1821) 

The  advance  of  the  allied  army  on  Paris  was  unob- 
structed, and  altogether  a  victorious  march.     On  the  Ttli 
July  the  city  surrendered,  and  on  the  8th  Louis  XVIII 
re-entered  it. 

Thus  closed  finally  that  succession  of  revolutions  which 
had  distracted  Europe  for  a  period  of  twenty-five  years 
Peace  was  again  restored  nearly  on  the  basis  of  the  treaty 
which  had  been  contracted  the  year  before,  but  with  some 
resumption  of  territory  by  the  allies  on  the  frontiers  of 
the  Netherlands,  of  Germany,  and  of  Savoy,  all  the 
provinces  of  Germany  being  restored  which  had  beloni^ed 
to  her  before  the  revolution,  and  had  been  torn  from  her 
during  the  wars  that  followed  it.  It  was  also  provided 
that  an  allied  army  of  150,000  men  should  occupy,  for 
the  s^mce  of  three  or  five  years,  a  line  of  fortresses  from 
Cambray  to  Alsace;  the  possession  of  which  would  enable 
them,  in  any  case  of  necessity,  to  march  upon  Paris  with- 
out o])iiosition.     This  army  was  to  be  maintained  wholly 

^^n  nnn^'i!?^'''^  ""^  ^'■'^''^^'  ^""'^  ^^*^^^^c«  ^Sreed  also  to  pay 
/  00,000,000  of  francs,  to  be  divided  in  different  portions 
among  the  allied  powers,  as  a  partial  indemnification  for 
the  expenses  of  this  last  contest.  Tlie  definitive  treaty 
was  signed  at  Paris  on  the  20th  November,  1815 

The  Germanic  Confederation  (1814-1815).— At  a  crveat 

congress  of  all  the  European  powers  opened  at  Vienna,  a 
confederation  of  thirty-eight  German  states  was  formed 
under  the  auspices  of  the  Holy  Alliance  (or  league  of  the 
three- great  continental  sovereigns),  for  purposes  of  mutual 

T 


I 

/ 


Il 


% 


290 


HISTORY   OF   GERMANY.  [PERIOD  VIII. 


protection;  each  state  being  rcqnired  to  fiirnisli  a  con- 
tingent of  troops  proportionate  to  the  number  of  its 
inhabitants,  but  being  in  all  other  respects  free  and  indc- 
l)endent.  That  army  was  to  consist  of  300,000  men,  of 
whom  Austria  was  to  furnish  94,000;  Prussia,  79,000; 
Bavaria,  35,000;  Wurtemberg,  13,G00;  Hanover,  13,000; 
Saxony,  12,000;  Baden,  10,000;  Hesse-Darmstadt,  6000; 
Hesse-Cassel,  5i00;  and  the  other  states  in  the  same 
proportion.  Their  general  a  flairs  were  to  be  discussed  at 
a  Diet  sitting  at  Frank  for  t-on-the-Main,  under  the  presi- 
dency of  the  Emperor  of  Austria.  In  a  congress  held  at 
Aix-la-Chapelle  in  the  autumn  of  1818,  it  was  resolved 
l)y  the  allied  monarclis  to  withdraw  their  army,  as  no 
longer  necessary  for  the  maintenance  of  order  in  Fi'ance. 
Subsequent  congresses  were  held  at  Tropj^au  in  1819, 
Leibach  in  1821,  and  Verona  in  1822,  for  the  ]mrposo  of 
settling  the  affairs  of  Greece,  Naples,  and  Spain. 


17S0-1S15.]      TABLE   OF   CONTEMPORARY   SOVEREIGNS.      291 


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AUSTRIAN   SWAY   IN   ITALY. 


293 


NINTH    PERIOD. 

FROM   THE    TEACE    OF    PARIS   TO   THE    FRANCO- 
PRUSSIAN    WAR    (1816 — 1870-71). 

Affairs  of  Germany  after  1816. — There  has  been  little 
to  relate  of  the  affairs  of  Germany  since  the  Act  of  Con- 
federation substituted  in  1816  for  the  confederation  of  the 
llhine  (1806).  While  most  of  the  nations  of  Europe 
were  struggling  for  freedom  or  independence,  the  Ger- 
manic mass  had  long  remained  inert.  The  subdivision  of 
the  people  into  a  number  of  petty  states,  seemed  to  damp 
the  feeling  of  nationality  and  patriotism,  which  was  also 
cowed  and  subdued  by  the  immense  standing  armies  of 
the  two  great  military  German  despotisms,  supported  in 
the  background  by  the  Russian  autocrat. 

The  Commercial  Union  of  Germany— The  ZoUverein 

(1818). — The  German  princes  who  were  reinstated  at  the 
Peace  of  Paris,  mostly  neglected  their  promises  of  giving 
their  subjects  constitutional  governments;  still  the  pre- 
vailing spirit  widely  tended  towards  progress  and  union. 
A  decided  advance  in  that  direction  was  made  as  Prussia 
gradually,  from  1818  onwards,  became  the  centre  of  a 
commercial  union  amongst  most  of  the  German  states 
called  the  Zollvereui,  the  members  of  which  agreed  to 
levy  no  duties  on  merchandise  passing  from  one  state  to 
another,  but  to  levy  them  only  at  the  common  frontier. 

The  Germans  in  general,  as  already  said,  were  desirous 
of  an  extension  of  their  political  liberties,  and  a  confirma- 
tion of  them  by  means  of  constitutions,  which  had  indeed 
been  promised  by  the  Act  of  Confederation.  This  matter 
occasioned  some  serious  disputes  between  the  King  of 
Wurtemberg  and  his  subjects.  But  the  Germans  are  a 
people  who  seem  little  capable  of  initiating  revolutionary 


i 


movements,  and  require  to  be  influenced  by  an  impulse 
from  without.  Till  the  second  French  Revolution  in 
1830,  political  demonstrations  in  Germany  were  mostly 
confined  to  the  students  of  the  universities.  These, 
however,  were  mere  harmless  mummeries,  such  as  the 
adoption  of  a  particular  dress,  the  displaying  of  tlie  Ger- 
man colours,  and  other  acts  of  the  same  kind. 

Re-establishment  of  the  Austrian  Sway  in  Italy. — 

Italy  had  received  French  institutions  from  Napoleon. 
These  liberal  institutions,  which  the  Italians  had  hoped 
to  preserve,  disappeared.  Four  revolutions  in  Turin, 
Naples  and  Sicily  were  suppressed  one  after  another  by 
the  Austrians.  Faithful  to  her  traditions,  Austria  assimi- 
lated the  Italian  provinces  to  the  German  provinces. 
Milan,  moreover,  she  looked  upon  as  simply  an  old 
possession,  everything  was  there  re-established  upon  its 
former  footing.  The  city  which  Napoleon  had  made  the 
capital  of  Italy,  lost  its  senate,  its  legislative,  and  con- 
sultative body,  its  court  of  accounts,  its  ministers,  great 
schools,  its  superior  tribunals,  and  its  army.  Everything 
had  to  be  derived  from  Vienna,  for  all  important  matters 
recours3  must  be  made  direct  to  Vienna.  The  Austrian 
code  was  resumed  in  all  its  vigour.  The  Italians,  re- 
clothed  in  the  white  uniform,  and  scattered  amongst  the 
Austrian  regiments,  were  obliged  to  stifle  in  their  bosoms 
every  patriotic  sentiment;  the  censorship  of  the  journals 
arrested  all  complaint;  the  police  denounced  it,  the  bas- 
tonade  punished  it. 

Nevertheless,  the  after-shocks  of  that  great  social  con- 
vulsion which  had  agitated  Eurojie  were  also  felt  in  Italy 
as  well  as  in  Germany.  The  revolution  in  France  of 
July  1830,  partially  stirred  even  the  inert  mass  of  the 
German  confederation,  and  liberal  innovations  were  intro- 
duced. Later  on,  the  principles  of  Mazzini  pervaded 
Austrian  Italy,  as  well  as  the  south  of  that  peninsula. 
The  Austrian  government  affected  mildness,  but  it  is 
difficult  to  reconcile  men  to  a  foreign  yoke.  Italy,  in  the 
chains  of  the  hated  Teuton,  was  struggling  to  break  her 
fetters. 


2()4 


HISTORY   OF   GERMANY.  [PERIOD  IX. 


Austrian  Aggression  in  Italy  Opposed  by  France 

(1832). — The  Austrians  having  quitted  the  Papal  States 
for  a  short  time,  had  re-entered  them.  The  French 
minister,  Casimir  Perier,  however,  having  determined  to 
make  the  principle  of  non-intervention  respected,  sent  a 
flotilla  into  the  Adriatic,  and  the  French  troops  seized 
upon  Ancona.  The  appearance  of  the  tricolor  in  tlio 
centre  of  Italy  was  almost  a  declaration  of  war  against 
Austria.  The  latter  did  not  pick  up  the  glove,  but  with- 
drew her  trooi^s. 
Ferdinand  I.,  Emperor    of  Austria  (1835),  — The 

imperial  throne  of  Austria  was  now  occupied  by  Ferdi- 
nand I.  Francis,  the  last  of  the  German  and  the  first  of 
the  Austrian  Emperors,  after  an  eventful  reign,  which 
had  commenced  almost  contemporaneously  with  the  first 
French  Republic,  expired  March  2,  1835.  His  son  and 
successor  would  have  been  still  less  fitted  for  such  event- 
ful times.  Ferdinand  was  the  personification  of  good 
nature,  but  weak  both  in  body  and  mind,  without  all 
knowledge  of  business,  and  led  like  a  child  by  his  minister, 
Prince  Metternich. 

The  Crown  of  Hanover  separated  from  the  English 
Crown  (1837).— The  death  of  William  IV.  of  England, 
in  1837,  had  also  vacated  the  crown  of  Hanover,  and 
severed  it  from  its  connection  with  Great  Britain.  Our 
))resent  gracious  sovereign,  who  ascended  the  throne  of 
these  realms  on  the  death  of  her  uncle,  was  disqualified 
by  her  sex,  according  to  the  lav/  of  Hanover  (the  Sallque 
law),  from  succeeding  to  that  crown,  which  consequently 
devolved  to  her  uncle,  Ernest  Augustus,  Duke  of  Cumber- 
land. One  of  the  first  acts  of  the  new  King's  reign  was 
to  abolish  the  constitution  which  had  been  established  in 
18G3,  and  to  restore  that  of  1819.  But  the  coiqy  (V  Hat 
was  attended  by  no  more  serious  result  than  the  resigna- 
tion of  seven  Gottingen  professors. 

King  Frederick  William  III.  of  Prussia  had  expired 
June  7,  1840.  Of  this  King  it  may  be  said,  that  as  few 
sovereigns  of  modern  times  have  experienced  greater  mis- 
fortunes and  humiliations,  so  few  or  none  more  deserved 


1816-1871.]         DENMARK   AND   TllE   DUCHIES. 


295 


them  by  the  vacillation  and  timidity  of  his  counsels, 
his  want  of  all  political  jn-inciples,  and  his  treachery 
toward  his  neighbours  and  allies.  His  son  and  successor, 
Prederick  William  lY.,  began  his  reign  with  some  liberal 
measures,  which,  however,  soon  appeared  to  be  the  eflfects 
of  weakness  rather  than  of  wisdom  and  benevolence. 

Denmark  and  the  Duchies — The  Schleswig-Holstein 
Question. — About  1846,  complications  began  to  arise  con- 
cerning the  Danish  boundary.  The  old  King  of  Denmark, 
Frederick  VI.,  had  died  in  1839.  He  was  succeeded  by 
his  gi-eat  nephew.  Christian  VIII.,  then  fifty-four  years  of 
age,  whose  only  son,  Frederick,  did  not  promise  to  leave 
any  posterity.  In  1846,  Christian  VIII.,  in  the  interests 
of  Prussian  policy,  issued  letters-patent  extending  the 
Danish  law  of  female  succession  to  the  whole  of  his 
dominions,  thus  annihilating  with  the  stroke  of  a  pen  all 
the  hopes  of  the  German  party  in  Schleswig  and  Holstein. 
The  Germans  now  began  an  agitation  on  this  subject,  in 
which  they  confounded  the  totally  distinct  rights  of  the 
two  duchies.  The  latter  duchy  (Holstein)  having  an 
entirely  German  population,  and  being  a  member  of  the 
German  Bund,  its  aflliirs  came  properly  under  the  con- 
sideration of  the  German  Diet.  With  Schleswig  the  case 
was  entirely  difterent.  The  duchy  was  ceded  to  Canute, 
King  of  Denmark  and  England,  by  the  Emperor  Conrad 
II.,  in  1030,  when  the  boundary  of  the  Eydcr  was  re- 
established as  the  natural  one  of  Denmark ;  whilst  Holstein 
did  not  come  under  the  dominion  of  the  Danish  crown 
till  1460,  in  the  reign  of  Christian  I.,  Count  of  Olden- 
burf",  who  had  claims  on  the  female  side.     The  German 


■o» 


Band  had  no  right  to  interfere  with  the  internal  affairs 
of  Schleswig. 

I^latters  remained  in  a  state  of  agitation  till  the  death 
of  Christian  VIII.  (January  20,  1848),  when  his  son, 
Frederick  VII.,  on  his  accession  at  once  gave  his  people 
a  constitution.  Denmark  had  remained  previously  an 
absolute  monarchy.  Since  then  endless  disputes  ensued. 
A  war  went  on  from  1848  to  1851,  but  this  time  Den- 
mark kept  both  duchies.     In  1804,  however,  under  the 


96 


HISTORY   OF   GERMANY.  [PERIOD  IX. 


181C-1871.] 


THE  AUSTRIAN  QUESTION. 


207 


present  King,  Christian  IX.,  disputes  arose  again;  a  war 
followed,  and  the  duchies  were  given  up  by  Denmark  to 
Prussia  and  Austria,  and  again  in  1866  by  Austria  to 
Prussia  alone.  The  northern  or  Danish  j)art  of  Sleswick 
was  to  have  been  given  back  to  Denmark,  but  this  has 
not  been  done. 

Collapse  of  the  Austrian  System    of  Repression 

(1848). — In  1847,  the  Austrians  were  in  occupation  of 
Fermra;  Pope  Pius  IX.,  who  was  then  arousing  Italy 
fi'om  its  torpor,  protested  against  the  Austrian  tyranny, 
but  was  badly  supported.  At  Milan,  the  German  garrison 
perpetrated  odious  brutalities  (February  1848).  The 
French  minister,  Guizot,  contented  himself  with  negotiat- 
ing in  behalf  of  the  victims.  Thus  France  became  tem- 
l)orarily  the  ally  of  an  empire  which  only  sustained  itself 
by  oppressing  in  turn  the  various  peoples  which  it  held 
enslaved.  But  on  arrival  of  the  news  of  the  third  French 
Kevolution  (1848),  the  whole  strength  of  that  vast  but 
ill-compacted  empire  seemed  to  collapse  in  a  single  day. 
Kossuth  carried  in  the  Diet  at  Pesth  an  address  to  the 
Emj^eror  (March  3),  demanding  "  a  national  government 
purged  from  all  foreign  influences."  Prince  Metternich 
now  quitted  Vienna  for  London,  and  the  Emperor  granted 
freedom  of  the  press,  a  national  guard,  and  a  liberal  Con- 
stitution for  the  whole  empire. 

Effects  of  the  French  Revolution  of  1848.— The 

breaking  out  of  the  third  French  Kevolution  not  only 
inflamed  Austria  and  its  dependencies,  but  set  all  Ger- 
many in  combustion.  In  the  smaller  states  it  displayed 
itself  in  a  desire  for  German  unity,  while  in  the  Austrian 
dominions  it  produced  an  insurrection  of  the  Hungarians, 
Slavonians,  and  Italians.  Pevolutionary  symptoms  first 
appeared  on  the  banks  of  the  llhine.  At  Mannheim,  the 
people  assembled  and  demanded  a  German  Parliament, 
freedom  of  the  press,  and  the  arming  of  the  people.  The 
governments  of  the  larger  middle  sUites — Bavaria,  Saxony, 
Hanover,  alone  opposed  any  resistance  to  the  people,  till 
Austria  and  Prussia  were  likewise  observed  to  bo  in  con- 
fusion.    In  1848,  /Vee  Bcuula  were  organised  in  Switzer- 


land  to  aid  the  establishment  of  a  republic  in  Germany. 
Austria  and  Prussia  concerted  together  a  reform  of  the 
Confederation,  but  the  Congress  of  Princes  was  prevented 
by  Austria  herself  becoming  absorbed  in  the  revolution- 
ary vortex.  Riots  also  occurred  in  several  parts  of 
Prussia,  as  Breslau,  Konigsburg,  Erfui-t.  In  Berlin  a 
riot  ensued  in  which  two  hundred  persons  lost  their  lives. 
Prussia  rises  into  Germany  (1848). — Pai-t  of  the 

Prussian  ministry,  at  least,  having  resolved  on  an  attempt 
to  place  Frederick  William  IV.  at  the  head  of  the  new 
German  nationality,  that  monarch  lent  himself  to  the 
project  with  the  same  feeble  mixture  of  covetousness  and 
irresolution  which  his  father  had  displayed  with  regard 
to  the  filching  of  Hanover.  On  the  21st  March  the  army 
having  assumed  the  German  cockade  in  addition  to  the 
Prussian,  it  Was  declared  "  that  Prussia  rises  into  Ger- 
many," and  that  the  Princes  and  States  of  Germany  shall 
deliberate  in  common  as  an  assembly  of  German  States, 
for  the  regeneration  and  refoundation  of  Germany.  The 
King  rejected,  indeed,  the  titles  of  "Emperor"  and 
*'  King  of  the  Germans,"  which  had  been  given  him  in 
one  of  these  proclamations.  But  he  yielded  entirely  to 
the  demands  for  internal  reform.  The  proceedings  at 
Berlin  on  the  21st  March  1848  produced  a  bad  impression 
in  Germany;  Frederick  William's  attempt  at  usurpation 
being  received  with  the  unconcealed  scorn  of  all  parties 
at  Vienna,  Munich,  and  Stuttgardt. 

The  Austrian  Question. — A  new  element  of  discord 
arose  out  of  what  may  be  called  the  Austrian  question. 
The  ancient  House  of  Hapsburg  showed  no  disposition  to 
be  absorbed  in  the  new  combination  of  the  German  states, 
and  refused  to  form  part  of  the  Confederation.  It  thus 
became  an  anxious  subject  of  speculation  in  Europe, 
whether  the  general  peace  could  be  preserved  while  the 
great  Austrian  empire  was  isolated  from  the  German 
family  of  states,  and  watched  with  jealousy  the  preten- 
sions of  Prussia  and  her  monarch  to  supremacy.  An 
attempt  was  made  to  join  Germany  together  imder  an 
Emi^eror  and  a  common  Parliament  instead  of  the  lax 


298 


HISTORY   OF   GERMANY.  [ PERIOD  IX. 


18161871.] 


THE   WAR   IN   ITALY. 


299 


Confederation  which  had  gone  on  since  1815.  This  led 
to  a  treaty  between  Austria  and  Prussia  for  the  forma- 
tion of  a  new  central  power  for  a  limited  time;  appeal 
to  be  made  to  the  governments  of  Germany.  In  conse- 
quence, however,  of  the  relations  thus  brought  about 
between  Prussia  and  the  smaller  German  states,  Austria 
protested  against  their  alliance  with  the  rival  kingdom. 
Harrassed  by  these  dissensions,  the  weak-minded  Emperor 
abdicated  in  favour  of  his  nephew,  Francis  Joseph,  his 
brother,  Francis  Charles,  having  renounced  his  rights 
(2nd  December  1848). 

Lombardy  wrested  from  Austria. — At  the  close  of 

18i8,  it  was  little  thought  that  before  a  few  months  had 
elapsed  a  gigantic  stmggle  would  take  place  between  the 
armies  of  France  and  Sardinia  on  the  one  side,  and  the 
army  of  Austria  on  the  other;  and  that,  as  the  result  of 
one  short  campaign,  Lombardy  would  bo  wrested  from 
the  grasp  of  Austria,  the  duchies  of  Tuscany,  Parma,  and 
Modena,  annexed  to  Piedmont,  and  the  first  gi'eat  era  of 
Italian  independence  would  begin.  Europe  was  in  a 
state  of  profound  peace,  and  France  had  gi^en  no  indica- 
tion of  wishing  to  disturb  it. 

Ambitious  designs  of  Prussia. — Early  in  1850,  the 
ambitious  designs  of  Prussia  becoming  more  clearly  de- 
veloped, a  treaty  was  entered  into  between  Bavaria, 
Saxony,  and  Wurtemberg,  for  a  revision  of  the  German 
Jhtiid,  and,  on  the  occasion  of  its  signature,  the  King  of 
AVurtemberg  denounced  the  insidious  ambition  of  Prussia. 
These  contentions  went  on  for  several  years,  until  at 
length  the  Diet  of  the  Confederation  {/J unci)  being  re- 
established at  Frankfort,  things  reverted  to  much  the 
same  state  as  they  were  before. 

Russian  influence  in  Germany  (1851-185G). — Ever 
since  the  treaties  of  1815,  Russia  had  exercised  a  menac- 
ing preponderance  over  Europe.  The  Czai-  Nicholas  had 
become  the  personification  of  a  formidable  system  of 
repression  and  conquest.  In  Germany,  he  had  supported 
the  sovereigns  in  tlieir  resistance  to  the  popular  will. 
After  having  saved  Austria  by  crushing  the  Hungarians 


.  t 


/\ 


who  revolted  against  her,  he  had  thought  that  the  pre- 
sence of  a  NajDoleon  on  the  throne  of  France  guaranteed 
to  Russia  the  alliance  of  England,  and  he  believed  that 
the  moment  had  come  for  grasping  the  ever-cherished 
object  of  Muscovite  covetousness — Constantinople.  In 
the  Crimean  war,  however,  the  Emperor  Napoleon  III. 
secured  the  neutrality  of  Austria  and  Prussia. 

The  Crown-Prince  of  Prussia  Appointed  Regent. — 
On  the  25th  January  1858,  Prince  Frederick  William, 
the  eldest  son  of  the  Crown-Prince  of  Prussia,  heir  pre- 
sumptive to  the  throne,  was  married  to  the  Princess 
Royal  of  England,  the  eldest  daughter  of  Queen  Victoria. 
As  the  state  of  the  King's  (Frederick  William  lY.)  health 
did  not  improve,  he  signed  a  decree  (October  7),  appoint- 
ing his  brother,  the  Crown-Prince  William,  regent  of  the 
kingdom. 

Disagreement  between  France  and  Austria. — At  the 
commencement  of  1859,  there  was  great  excitement  caused 
by  the  address  of  the  Emperor  Napoleon  III.  to  the 
Austrian  ambassador  at  a  reception  on  New  Year's  Day. 
"  I  regi-et,"  said  the  French  Emperor,  "  that  our  relations 
with  your  government  are  not  as  good  as  formerly,  and 
I  beg  of  you  to  tell  the  Emperor  that  my  personal  senti- 
ments  for  him  have  not  changed.''  The  Emperor  of 
Austria  replied  in  almost  the  same  words.  During  the 
following  month  AustrLa  made  preparation  for  war; 
enlarging  her  armies  in  Italy,  and  strongly  fortifying 
the  banks  of  the  Ticino,  the  boundary  of  her  Italian 
provinces  and  Sardinia.  France  and  Sardinia  also  pre- 
pared for  war. 

The  War  in  Italy — Peace  of  Villafranca  and  Treaty 

of  Zurich  (1858,  1859). — After  Russia,  Austria  had  been 
most  opposed  to  modern  ideas.  As  the  former  had 
weighed  heavily  upon  Turkey,  so  did  the  latter  upon 
Italy.  During  the  Crimean  war,  Austria  had  played  an 
equivocal  pai-t,  whilst  the  King  of  Sardinia  had  not  feared 
to  join  his  young  army  to  the  Anglo-French  forces.  That 
circumstance  had  made  France  the  natural  protector  of 
Piedmont,  and  consequently  of  Italy,  of  which  that  little 


^^^  HISTORY   OF   GERMANY.  [PERTOD  IX. 

kingdom  was,  as  it  were,  the  citadel.  Tims,  when  the 
Emperor  of  Austria,  Francis  Josej)!),  in  spite  of  the  efforts 
of  European  diplomacy,  crossed  the  Ticino,  as  the  Emperor 
Nicholas  had  passed  the  Pruth,  France  found  herself  face 
to  face  with  the  new  aggressor  and  on  the  side  of  the 
oppressed.* 

The   Emperor   Napoleon   resumed    by   that    war   tho 
secular  policy  of  France,  which  consists  in  not  sufiering 
the  prepotency  of  Austria  or  of  Germany  in  Italy;  that 
is  to  say,  on  the  south-east  frontier  of  France.    If  lie  had, 
as  President  of  the  Kepublic,  contributed  to  the  return  of 
the  Pope  to  Eome,  it  was  not  to  perpetuate  in  the  Penin- 
sula the  Austrian  oppression  and  the  general  slavery. 
The  appearance  of  a  French  army,  divided  into  6ve  corps, 
coinmanded  by  distinguished  generals,  upon  that  soil  on 
which  French  arms,  during  three  centuries,  had  left  so 
many  glorious  traces,  announced  a  new  era  in  European 
policy.     Italy,   seeing  that  the  moment   had  come  for 
claiming  her  independence,  arose  at  the  call  of  France. 
Europe  looked  on  with  excited  attention;  England  with 
good   wishes;   Eussia   and   Prussia  with  astonishment; 
Austria  and  France  alone  remained  confronted  with  each 
other.     The  war  lasted  scarcely  two  months. 

After  the  brilliant  affair  of  Montebello,  which  frus- 
trated a  surprise  attempted  by  the  Austrians,  the  Franco- 
Piedmontese  army  was  concentrated  round  Alessandria; 
then,  by  a  bold  and  skilful  movement,  turned  the  right 
of  the  Austrians,  which  had  already  crossed  the  Ticino, 
and  compelled  them  to  repass  that  river.  Taken  between 
the  divisions  of  General  MacMahon  and  the  imperial 
guard  at  Magenta,  the  Austrians  lost  7000  killed  or 
wounded,  and  8000  prisoners  (4th  June).  Two  days 
after,  the  French  entered  Milan. 

The  Austrians,  astonished  at  so  rude  a  collision,  aban- 

« 

*  On  April  23,  Austria  demanded  the  disarmament  of  Sardinia 
in  three  days.  That  demand  was  rejected  on  tho  2(>tli,  and  tho 
Austrians  crossed  the  Ticino.  On  the  27th,  French  troops  entered 
1  ledmont,  and  on  May  3,  the  French  Emperor  declared  >var  to 
ex]  cl  the  Austrians  from  Italy 


1SIG-1S71.] 


THE    LIBERATION    OF    ITALY. 


301 


ii 


doned  their  first  line  of  defence,  and  retired  upon  the 
Adda,  after  having  vainly  made  a  momentary  stand  at  a 
spot  already  famous — Marignan,  and  upon  the  Mincio, 
beyond  the  celebrated  plains  of  Castiglione,  between  the 
two  strong  fortresses  of  Peschiera  and  Mantua.  The 
Austrian  army  then  thought  itself  posted  in  an  inexpug- 
nn.ble  position — the  great  quadrilateral  of  Yerona.  There 
the  Emperor  of  Austria,  with  a  new  general  and  con- 
siderable reinforcements,  had  come  to  await  the  French. 
The  Austrians  had  long  studied  this  strategic  battle-field. 
They  were  then  160,000  strong  upon  the  heights,  over- 
looking the  village  and  tower  of  Solferino,  ready  to  sweep 
down  ujion  the  plain.  Napoleon  III.  had  scarcely 
140,000  men  in  hand,  and  was  obliged  to  fight  upon  a 
line  of  five  leagues  in  extent.  Whilst  the  right  wing 
struggled  against  the  enemy  in  the  })lain,  to  avoid  being 
turned,  and  King  Victor  Emmanuel  with  his  Piedmontese 
resisted  bravely  on  the  left,  the  centre  made  a  vigorous 
attack,  and,  after  an  heroic  struggle,  carried  successively 
Mont  Fenile,  Mont  des  Cypres,  and  lastly  the  village  of 
Solferino.  The  enemy's  line  was  broken  and  his  reserves 
reached,  before  they  could  engage,  by  the  balls  of  the  new 
rifled  cannon.  Thereupon  ensued  a  frightful  pell-mell; 
but  at  the  same  time  a  terrific  storm,  accompanied  by 
hail  and  torrent-like  rain,  stopped  the  victors,  and  enabled 
the  Austrians  to  recross  the  Mincio,  leaving  25,000  behind 
them.  The  Emperor  Napoleon  took  up  his  quarters 
that  evening  in  the  same  chamber  which  had  been 
occupied  in  the  morning  by  Francis  Joseph  (24th  June 
1859). 

Great  excitement  arose  in  Germany  in  consequence  of 
the  French  successes  in  Lombardy,  and  which  led  to  a 
meeting  of  the  French  Emperor  and  the  German  sove- 
reigns at  Baden,  as  well  as  of  the  Czar  and  Emperor  of 
Austria,  and  the  PvOgent  of  Prussia  at  Tceplitz,  in  the 
year  following.  A  meeting  was  also  held  at  Cobui-g  in 
favour  of  German  unity  against  French  aggression  (Sept. 
5,  1860). 

Results  of  the  Liberation  of  Italy.— Twice  a  con- 


302 


HISTORY   OF   GERMANY.  [PERIOD  IX. 


1816-1871.] 


PRUSSIAN   AGGRESSION. 


303 


queror,  Napoleon  III.  had  suddenly  made  an  offer  of 
peace  to  his  Austrian  foe.  Italy  was  free,  although  a 
])ortion  of  the  Italian  territory,  Venice,  still  remained  in 
the  hands  of  Austria.  Euroj^e,  astounded  by  these  rapid 
victories,  could  not  conceal  its  newly  awakened  jealousy. 
The  French  Emperor  thought  he  had  done  enough  for 
Italy  by  driving  back  the  Austrian  across  the  Mincio, 
whose  forces  had  so  shortly  previous  occupied  the  banks 
of  the  Ticino,  and  he  signed  with  Francis  Joseph,  at 
Villafranca,  a  peace  the  principal  conditions  of  whicli 
were  confirmed  at  the  close  of  that  year  by  the  treaty  ot 
Zurich.  By  that  peace  Austria  abandoned  Lombardy 
with  which  France  aggi'andised  Piedmont,  in  order  to 
secure  to  herself  a  faithful  ally  on  the  other  side  of  the 
Alps.  The  Mincio  became  the  Ijoundary  of  Austria  in 
the  Peninsula,  the  several  states  of  which  it  was  proposed 
shoidd  form  a  great  confederation  under  the  presidency 
of  the  Pope.  But  this  plan  was  rejected  by  all  parties 
interested  in  it,  and  the  revolutionary  movement  con- 
tinued. The  Emperor  confined  himself  to  preventing 
Austria  from  intervening.  Then  the  go^ernments  of 
Parma,  Modena,  the  Boman  Legations,  Tuscany,  and 
Naples,  which,  since  1814,  had  been  nothing  more  than 
lieutenances  of  Austria,  were  seen  successively  to  collapse; 
and  Italy  was  free  to  form  one  kingdom  only,  minus 
Bome  and  Venice.  All  the  European  powers,  however, 
have  subsecpiently  recognised  the  unity  of  the  Italian 
Peninsula,  including  the  two  last-mentioned  cities.* 

Prussian  Aggression. — During  the  dispute  between 
Prussia  and  Denmark  respecting  the  rights  of  Holstcin 

*  111  Milan  there  is  a  lofty  monument,  originally  reared  by  tlio 
first  Napoleon,  called  the  Arco  delta  Pao'.  This  triumphal  arch 
was  afterwards  degraded  by  paltry  trophies  and  fulsome  pane- 
gyrics of  an  Austrian  Kaiser.  These  have  now  been  replaced 
by  an  inscription  uHsurpassed  for  pathos  and  nobility  by  any 
sculptured  stone  in  Europe — the  purport  of  which  is,  that  when 
Napoleon  III.  and  Victor  Emmanuel  II.  entered  the  capital  of 
Lombardy  as  liberators,  **  Exulting  Milan  tore  from  those  marbles 
the  emblems  of  slavery,  and  wrote  up  instead  that  Italy  waa 


and  Sleswick,  King  Frederick  William  IV.  died  (Jan. 
2,  18G1),  and  was  succeeded  by  his  brother,  William  I., 
the  present  Emperor  of  Germany.  Prussia,  which,  since 
Frederick  the  Great,  had  dreamed  of  reconstituting  the 
German  empire,  knew  well  that  she  could  not  realise 
that  object,  so  threatening  to  Europe,  until  after  the 
military  hiuniliation  of  France,  and  she  now  prepared 
the  means  for  it  with  increased  and  untiring  perseverance. 
Events  were  rapidly  hastening  on  to  "  raise  Prussia  into 
Germany." 
Irritation    between    the    Prussian    and    Austrian 

Governments. — Early  in  March  18G6,  a  feeling  of 
great  irritation  had  si^rung  up  between  the  govern- 
ments of  Austria  and  Prussia,  the  ostensible  cause  of 
v/hich  was  the  question  of  the  occupation  of  the  duchies  of 
Schleswig  and  Holstein  by  Prussia,  but  the  real  reason 
was  the  rivalry  between  the  two  powers,  each  of  whicli 
aspired  to  rule  Germany,  and  found  herself  checked  and 
thwarted  by  the  other.  Italy  made  no  secret  of  her  wish 
to  come  to  hostilities  with  Austria,  and  made  active  war- 
like preparations  for  a  contest  which  she  was  resolved 
to  precipitate.  This  justilied  Austria  in  increasing  her 
armaments,  but  Prussia  chose  to  take  oilence  at  her  pro- 
ceedings, and  she  assumed  that  the  increase  of  the  military 
Btrength  of  Austria  was  intended  as  a  menace  against 
herself.  The  truth  is,  that  Count  Bismarck  was  only  too 
glad  to  find  a  pretext  for  quarrelling  with  Austria,  and 
thus  enable  him  to  execute,  at  the  risk  of  failure  and 
ruin,  the  ambitious  schemes  of  aggrandisement  which  ho 
had  long  cherished  for  his  country. 

On  the  24th  March  the  Prussian  government  sent  a 
circular  despatch  to  the  minor  German  states,  pointing 
out  the  necessity  of  their  coming  to  an  immediate  decision 
as  to  which  of  the  two  powers,  Prussia  or  Austria,  they 
would  side  with  in  the  struggle  which  the  armaments 
{join*:'  on  in  Austria  seemed  to  render  imminent.  Several 
of  the  states  thus  appealed  to  answered  by  referring  to  the 
11th  clause  of  the  Federal  Act,  by  which  war  between 
Oerman  governments,  members  of  the  JSumlj  was  pro- 


»    i 


304 


HISTORY   OF   GERMANY  [PERIOD  IX. 


181G-IS71.]  AUSTRIA   SURRENDERS   VENETIA. 


305 


liibitecl,  and  a  pacific  mode  of  settling  disputes  provided. 
The  Bavarian  government  said  in  their  reply,  that  a 
federal  state  which,  by  disregarding  those  provisions, 
attempted  to  do  itself  justice,  and  declare  war  against 
another  federal  state,  must  be  considered  as  having 
violated  the  Federal  Constitution.  Yet,  when  shortly 
afterwards,  the  helmets  of  Prussia  shone  over  a  prostmte 
Confederation,  remarkable  moderation  was  shown  in  the 
treatment  of  Bavaria  by  the  court  of  Berlin. 

In  the  result,  17  out  of  the  33  states  that  formed  the 
Bund  seceded  from  it,  and  all  the  minor  northern  states, 
with  the  exception  of  the  elder  House  of  Reuss,  made 
common  cause  with  Prussia. 

Secret  Treaty  between  Italy  and  Prussia  against 

Austria. — Before  the  end  of  March,  a  secret  treaty  of  alli- 
ance was  entered  into  between  Prussia  and  Italy,  the  terms 
of  which,  so  far  as  they  were  known,  show  how  resolved 
the  two  countries  were  to  engage  in  wiTi-  with  Austria. 
According  to  these,  Italy  engaged  to  declare  war  against 
Austria  as  soon  as  Prussia  should  have  either  declared 
war  or  committed  an  act  of  hostility.  Prussia  engaged 
to  carry  on  the  war  vmtil  the  mainland  of  Venetia,  with 
the  exception  of  the  fortresses  and  the  city  of  Venice, 
either  was  in  the  hands  of  the  Italians,  or  until  Austria 
declared  herself  ready  to  cede  it  volunUirily;  and  King 
Victor  Emmanuel  promised  not  to  lay  down  his  arms 
until  the  Prussians  should  be  in  legal  possession  of  the 
Elbe  duchies. 

The  Seven  Weeks'  War — Battles  of  Sadowa,  Lissa, 

and  Custozza. — In  July  1866,  what  bade  fair  to  become 
a  European  war  began  in  earnest.  Immediately  on 
receipt  of  an  advei-se  vote  passed  by  the  German  Diet 
(16th  June),  Count  Von  Bismarck  presented  an  ultimatum 
to  the  Courts  of  Hanover  and  Saxony,  demanding  that 
they  should  disarm  and  accept  the  Prussian  project  of 
reform,  imder  penalty  of  war.  Both  courts  refused,  and  on 
the  18th  June,  the  Prussians  entered  Dresden,  Hanover, 
Hesse-Cassel,  and  Hamburg,  without  apparently  firing  a 
shot.     The  King  of  Hanover  retreated  with  his  army  to 


Gottingen,  leaving  his  family  in  the  capital;  the  King  of 
Saxony  and  his  25,000  men  retired  into  Bohemia;  and 
the  Elector  of  Hesse-Cassel  became  a  state  prisoner  of 
Prussia.  The  Germanic  Confederation  was,  in  fact, 
broken  up.  The  rapid  successes  of  the  Prussians  cul- 
minated in  a  pitched  battle  fought  at  Sadowa  (3rd  July 
1866),  near  the  fortress  of  KiJniggratz  in  Bohemia,  under 
Prince  Frederick  Charles  against  the  Austrians  (the  latter 
assisted  by  Saxon  troops),  under  Field  Marshal  Benedek. 
There  were  about  250,000  troops  available  on  each  side. 
The  battle  raged  obstinately  till  the  afternoon,  when  a 
second  Prussian  army,  under  tlie  Crown  Prince,  which 
had  approached  the  battle-field  by  forced  marches, 
appeared  on  the  .flank  of  the  Austrian  position,  and 
drove  them  from  the  field  with  great  slaughter.  Thus 
defeated,  the  Austrians  retired  iij)on  Vienna.  A  naval 
battle  was  also  fought  on  20th  July  ofi*  Lissa,  in  the 
Adriatic,  between  the  Austrian  fleet  under  Admiral 
Tegethoff",  and  that  of  Italy  under  General  Persano. 
Iron-clad  ships  were  prominently  engaged  on  both  sides; 
but  the  result  of  the  action  was  disputed.  A  few  days 
after  this  sea-fight,  a  battle  was  fought  at  Custozza,  near 
Verona,  between  the  Italian  and  Austrian  forces,  result- 
ing in  the  repulse  of  the  former;  the  victorious  general 
being  the  Archduke  Albert.  In  this  campaign,  Prussia 
got  the  better  in  so  short  a  time,  that  it  has  been  called 
the  Seven  Weeks   War. 

Austria  Surrenders  Venetia  to  France. — Through  the 
mediation  of  Napoleon  III.,  to  whom  the  Emperor  of 
Austria  sun*endered  Venetia,  an  armistice  was  ultimately 
agreed  ui)on,  followed  by  a  cessation  of  hostilities  and  a 
treaty  definitively  signed  at  Prague  on  the  23rd  August. 
By  the  peace  which  was  now  made,  Austria  was  shut  out 
from  Germany  altogether,  and  the  kingdom  of  Hanover 
and  some  smaller  states  were  annexed  to  Prussia,  and 
the  northern  states  were  formed  into  the  North  German 
Confederation,  under  the  presidency  of  Prussia,  with  a 
common  constitution  and  assembly. 

Let  us  now  see  what  was  the  territorial  position  of 


306 


HISTORY   OP   GERMANY.  [PERIOD  IX. 


1810-1871.]      FRENCH   WAR   AGAINST   GERMANY. 


307 


Prussia  before  the  war,  and  what  she  gained  by  its  suc- 
cessful issue. 

Before  the  war  the  kingdom  of  Prussia  consisted  of 
nine  provinces — 1.  Eastern  Prussia,  with  Konigsberg  as 
its  capital  2.  Western  Prussia;  capital,  Dantzig.  3. 
The  Grand  Duchy  of  Posen,  or  Polish  Prussia;  capital, 
Posen.  4.  Silesia;  capital,  Breslau.  5.  Brandenburg, 
in  which  is  situated  Berlin.  6.  Pomerania;  capital, 
Stettin.  7.  Saxon  Prussia,  in  which  is  situated  the 
strong  fortress  of  Magdeburg.  8.  Westphalia.  9. 
Bhenish  Pnissia.  After  the  war,  in  addition  to  these 
territories,  she  incorporated  into  her  dominions,  Hanover, 
Hesse-Cassel,  Nassau,  Hesse-IIombourg,  the  duchies  of 
Schleswig,  Holstein,  and  Lauenberg  (these  last,  however, 
had  been  previously  annexed),  that  part  of  Hesse- 
Darmstadt  whicli  lies  to  the  north  of  the  Maine,  and  the 
little  principality  of  Hohenzollern — the  cradle  of  tho 
Prussian  Koyal  House— situated  on  the  borders  of  Lake 
Constance,  between  Wurtemberg  and  Switzerland. 

Prussian  Preparations  for  War  with  France. — Still 

further  territorial  acquisition,  the  result  of  conquest,  and 
even  empire,  were  destined  speedily  to  fall  within  the 
grasp  of  the  House  of  Hohenzollern.  Prussia  stimulated, 
through  the  means  of  history,  poetry,  and  science,  German 
patriotism,  against  those  whom  she  called  in  her  news- 
papers "the  hereditary  enemy."  She  armed  all  her  male 
population  from  20  to  GO;  she  required  from  her  officers 
the  most  complete  instruction,  from  her  troops  the  most 
severe  discipline ;  and,  by  an  organization  which  left  no 
portion  of  tho  national  forces  inactive,  by  a  foresight  which 
utilised  all  the  resources  of  science  and  industry,  she  con- 
stituted, in  the  centre  of  Europe,  the  most  formidable 
machinery  of  war  that  the  world  has  yet  seen — 1,500,000 
men  trained  and  armed — every  man  a  soldier.  And  that 
terrible  machinery  she  confided  to  be  put  in  action  to  men 
whom  few  scruples  of  justice,  legality,  or  honour,  could 
stop,  since  they  said  openly — "  Force  overcomes  right" 
{La  force  prime  le  droit),  and  they  acted  accordingly. 
France  saw  nothing  or  desired  to  see  nothing  in  thosa 


immense  preparations,  which  were  being  completed  even 
on  her  own  territory,  by  the  minute  and  secret  study  of 
every  means  of  action  or  of  resistance.  Ideas  of  peace 
and  economy  predominated  in  the  legislative  body;  a 
blind  confidence  in  France's  military  superiority,  an  equal 
distrust  against  the  armament  of  the  whole  country,  pre- 
vented the  proportioning  of  the  forces  of  France  to  the 
greatness  of  the  struggle  which  was  approaching;  and, 
through  the  incapacity  of  officials  and  the  insufficiency  of 
the  administrations,  those  which  existed  were  badly 
handled. 

France  declares  War  against  Germany. — An  an- 
nouncement was  made  in  the  beginning  of  July  1870,  by 
the  Spanish  ministers,  of  their  intention  to  recommend 
Prince  Leopold  of  Hohenzollern  Sigmaringen,  a  German 
prince  belonging  to  a  branch  of  the  house  widely  separated 
from  that  which  reigned  in  Prussia,  to  the  long  vacant 
throne  of  Spain.  The  personal  and  family  circumstances 
of  Prince  Leopold  allied  him  in  some  measure,  it  might 
seem,  with  French  and  Napoleonic  interests.  The  branch 
of  the  Hohenzollerns  to  which  he  belonged  was  Roman 
Catholic;  his  paternal  grandmother  was  a  Murat;  his 
maternal  grandmother  a  Beauharnais;  his  mother  was  of 
the  house  of  Braganza-Bourbon.  It  was  more  than  five 
centuries  since  he  and  the  King  of  Prussia  had  had  a 
common  ancestor. 

On  the  6th,  the  Duke  de  Grammont  said  in  the  French 
Legislature  that  it  was  undoubtedly  true  that  Marshal  Prim 
had  offered  the  crown  to  the  Hohenzollern  ]>rince,  and 
tliat  the  latter  had  accepted  it;  but  the  Spanish  people 
had  not  yet  declared  themselves.  Meanwhile,  in  view  of 
the  dangers  to  the  peace  of  Europe  which  were  arismg. 
Prince  Leopold  himself  decided  on  giving  in  his  resigna- 
tion, and  a  momentary  hope  arose  that  the  threatened 
storm  had  blown  over.  It  was  not,  however,  as  was 
shortly  seen,  when  a  credit  of  fifty  millions  was  demanded 
by  the  minister  of  war  and  granted.  On  the  19th  July, 
war  was  formally  declared.  Thus,  as  a  finishing  stroke 
of  dexterity,  Prussia  had  had  the  art  to  evoke  a  declara' 


308 


HISTORY   OF   GERMANY.  [pERIOD  XI. 


181G-1871.] 


TREATY   OF   VERSAILLES. 


309 


tion  of  tlie  war  which  she  so  ardently  desired,  and  for 
which  she  liad  been  preparing  for  some  fifteen  years. 

To  700,000  sokliers  moved  up  in  fifteen  days  to  the 
frontier,  and  concentrated  in  a  small  space,  from  Treves 
to  Landau,  the  French  opposed  240,000  men  scattered 
over  a  line  of  100  leagues.  Thus,  they  were  overwhelmed 
at  Wissemhourg,  at  lleichsoffen,  and  at  Forbach  by  an 
enemy  three  or  four  times  superior  in  numbers,  fighting 
at  a  distance,  under  cover  of  the  woods,  and  covered  by 
an  innumerable  artillery,  the  range  of  which  was  greater 
than  that  of  the  French  guns  (4th  and  6th  August).  The 
Emperor  capitulated  at  Sedan  (2nd  Sept.),  and  Marshal 
Bazfiine  at  Metz  (26th  Oct.).    Strasburg  succumbed  after 


METZ. 

a  bombardment  which  burned  the  library,  the  museum, 
and  threatened  to  demolish  the  cathedral.  On  the  19th 
Sept.,  Paris  invested,  fought  its  first  battle  at  Chatillon. 
In  detaining  before  its  walls  during  more  than  four  months 
(18th  Sept.  to  27th  Jan.),  the  principal  Prussian  forces, 
it  gave  France  time  to  raise  herself  up.     All  the  regular 


army,  save  four  Algerian  regiments,  "vvas  prisoner  in 
Germany.  It  was  necessary  to  improvise  soldiers,  can- 
nons, rifles,  and  commissariat.  The  provincial  forces 
■were  crushed;  and  when,  after  131  days  of  siege  and  a 
month's  bombardment,  famine  forced  Paris  to  lower  the 
drawbridges  of  her  forts,  nothing  more  remained  but  to 
submit  to  the  law  of  the  conqueror. 

Treaty  of  Versailles. — A  treaty  of  peace  between 
Germany  and  France  was,  after  much  patient  negotia- 
tion, concluded  at  Versailles  on  Feb.  26,  1871.  The 
ICmperor  William,  "  with  a  deeply-moved  heart  and  with 
gratitude  to  God,"  telegraphed  the  result  at  once  to  Berlin. 
The  negotiations  were  conducted  with  the  utmost  secrecy, 
and  removed  altogether  from  any  influence  likely  to  be 
exercised  by  neutrals  either  for  advice  or  guarantee.  The 
only  modification  the  Germans  were  understood  to  have 
made  in  the  original  severity  of  their  terms  was  the  resti- 
tution of  the  fortress  of  Belfort,  commanding  the  passes 
of  the  Vosges,  conceded,  it  was  said,  as  an  equivalent  for 
permitting  the  German  army  to  march  through  Paris. 
The  major  conditions  of  the  Treaty  were  the  cession  of 
Alsace  and  German  Lorraine,  and  the  payment  of  a  war 
indemnity  of  five  milliards  of  francs  (£200,000,000)— 
demands,  it  was  thought  as  great  as  Europe  would  allow, 
and  not  unlikely  to  create  a  permanent  feeling  of  hatred 
between  the  two  countries.  The  payment,  it  was  sti])u- 
lated,  of  one  milliard,  was  to  take  place  during  1871,  and 
the  remainder  within  three  years  from  the  ratification  of 
the  then  existent  preliminaries.  On  the  28th,  when  the 
victorious  Germans  entered  Paris  in  triumph,  the  terms 
of  the  treaty  were  ratified  in  the  French  National  As- 
sembly by  546  votes  to  107.  At  the  same  sitting,  a 
formal  proposal  was  submitted,  amid  enthusiastic  cheers, 
for  the  deposition  of  Napoleon  III.  as  the  person  "respon- 
sible for  all  our  misfortunes,  the  ruin,  the  invasion,  and 
the  dismemberment  of  France." 

For  the  first  time  during  four  centuries,  France  retro- 
graded. In  1815,  she  had  at  least  very  nearly  preserved 
the  frontiers  which  her  old  monarchy  had  given  her;  but 


I; 


310 


HISTORY  OP   GERMANY.  [PERIOD  VIII. 


1816-1871.1 


GERMAN   UNITY. 


311 


by  tlie  Treaty  of  Versailles  (1871),  a  wound  was  inflicted 
U2)on  her  wliicli  will  ever  bleed,  by  tearing  away  the  two 
provinces,  Alsace  and  a  portion  of  Lorraine,  which  had 
never  been  connected  with  the  German  Empire,  save  by 
the  most  feeble  ties.  Strasburg  had  voluntarily  given 
itself  to  Louis  XIV.  in  1G81,  and  Metz  to  Henry  IL  in 
1552. 

New  Political  Divisions  of  Germany — Recapitula- 
tion.— The  events  just  recorded  have  involved  an  entire 
change  in  the  political  relationship  of  the  German  States 
to  one  another,  and  to  the  rest  of  Europe.  This  cliango 
has  been  immediately  (hxQ— firstly^  to  the  Austro-Prussiau 
war  of  18G6;  and,  secondly ,  to  the  Franco-Prussian  war 
of  1870-1.  Its  remoter  causes,  however,  had  long  becu 
in  preparation. 

The  Old  German  Empire — elective  in  its  constitution, 
constantly  weakened  by  the  mutual  jealousies  between  its 
membei^,  and  the  consequent  want  of  unity  in  its  dealings 
with  foreign  states — was  terminated  in  1806,  during  the 
military  success  of  Napoleon  I.  With  the  downfall  of 
Napoleon,  a  German  Confederation,  composed  of  39  states 
(subsequently  diminished,  by  fixilure  of  succession  and 
other  causes,  to  33  in  number),  was  organised  by  the 
Congress  of  Vienna,  in  1815.  Austria,  ruled  by  sove- 
reigns of  the  House  of  Hapsburg,  which  had  occ\ipicd, 
during  many  successive  generations,  the  imperial  throne, 
had  the  foremost  place  in  the  Confederation;  Prussia,  the 
second;  Bavaria,  Wiirtemberg,  Hanover,  Saxony,  and  tho 
smaller  States,  taking  successive  grades  of  inferior  import- 
ance. A  Diet,  assembling  at  Frankfort-on-the-lNIaine, 
regulated  the  affairs  of  the  Confederation  as  a  whole,  its 
dealings  with  foreign  powers,  kc. ;  each  State  remaining 
(at  least  nominally)  a  sovereign  power  in  all  internal 
regards.  This  cumlirous  machinery,  after  enduring  just 
half  a  century,  fell  to  pieces  in  186G.  The  brief  war  of 
that  year  resulted,  as  already  shown,  in  the  decisive  suc- 
cess of  the  Prussian  armies  over  those  of  Austria,  gained 
on  the  field  of  Koniggi*atz.  Prussia  dissolved  the  then 
existing  Confederation,  and  erected  in  its  place  a  new 


f 


I  % 


"  North  German  Confederation  "  {Xord  Deutscher  Buiul), 
from  which  Austria  was  expressly  excluded.  All  the 
States  of  Germany  lying  north  of  the  river  Maine  and 
the  Erz  Gebirge  (Luxemburg  alone  excepted)  became 
members  of  the  new  Confederation,  with  Prussia  at  their 
head.  The  increase  of  the  Prussian  monarchy  at  this 
time,  by  the  absorption  within  its  limits  of  some  half- 
a-dozen  of  the  smaller  states,  has  been  previously  detailed. 
German  Unity. — The  war  declared  by  France  against 
Prussia,  in  1870,  at  once  aroused  the  German  nation  to 
a  recollection  of  the  sufferings  which,  above  half  a  century 
previously,  had  resulted  from  former  disunion,  and  to  a 
conviction  of  the  necessity  of  united  action,  with  a  view 
to  preserve  the  possible  recurrence  of  like  disasters.  The 
combined  action  of  all  the  German  States,  with  the 
cxcej)tion  of  Austria,  in  arms  against  France,  was  tho 
immediate  result. 

The  King  of  Prussia  created  Emperor  of  Germany. — 

While  the  German  siege  of  Paris  was  going  on  (Jan. 
1871),  the  various  sovereign  states  of  Germany — tho 
South  German,  as  well  as  the  members  of  the  lately  organ- 
ised federation — determined  on  a  revival  of  the  Empire, 
and  the  imperial  crown  vras,  at  their  joint  instance,  con- 
ferred on  the  King  of  Prussia,  on  behalf  of  himself  and 
liis  descendants.  King  William,  being  in  the  great  hall 
of  Louis  XIV.  at  Versailles,  received  the  title  of  German 
Emijeror  from  the  princes  and  free  cities  of  Germany, 
even  the  King  of  Bavaria  playing  a  leading  part  in  the 
memorable  ceremonial.  This  was,  in  fact,  a  restoration, 
not  of  the  Emj^lre,  bat  of  the  Kingdom  of  Germany;  as, 
luider  tlie  ancient  imperial  system,  the  title  of  Emperor 
could  be  held  only  by  one  who  was,  or  asserted  himself 
to  be,  monarch  of  either  the  old  or  the  new  Home. 
However,  now  that  several  of  the  German  ])rinces  are 
called  kings,  it  would  have  been  diflicuit  to  find  a  more 
appropriate  title  than  Emiyeror  for  the  chief  of  the  Con- 
federation which  has  kings  amongst  its  members.  The 
New  German  Empire  unites  under  one  rule  the  entire 
German  nation,  the  subjects  of  Austria  alone  excepted, 


312 


niStORY   OF   GERMANY.  [PERIOD  IX. 


TABLE   OF   CONTEMPORARY   SOVEREIGNS. 


313 


much  more  closely  than  it  had  been  ever  since  the  Thirty 
Years*  War,  or  indeed  since  the  great  "  interregnum." 
The  sovereign  rights  of  the  various  states  are  limited  to 
their  own  internal  affairs. 

The  revival  of  the  ancient  title  of  Emperor  of  Germany, 
in  the  person  of  the  Piiissian  monarch,  was  proclaimed 
to  the  Prussian  Diet  on  the  18th  Jan.  1871.     Early  in 
March  the  conquerors  were  home  again.     The  22nd  was 
the  new  Emperor's  birthday,  when  he  attained  the  age 
of   74   years.      Numerous   German   princes   seized   the 
occasion  to  offer   their  congi-atulations   in  person,  and 
municipalities  presented  addresses.      "More  than  four 
centuries  and  a  half  have  elapsed,"  said  the  Burgomaster 
of  Berlin,  "since  Divine  Providence  sent  the  Hohcn- 
zollcrns  to  take  care  of  our  Marches,  then  a  prey  to  every 
kind  of  disorder.     In  this  long  time  the  i)rinces  of  your 
Royal  House  have  worked  and  toiled  for  us  in  a  spirit  of 
paternal  solicitude,  and  without  ever  resting  from  the 
task  they  had  undertaken.     May  the  Emperor  who  has 
extended  our  frontiers  and  added  fresh  laurels  to  our 
banners,  be  destined  alike  to  promote  the  blessings  of 
peace,  and  to  increase  and  develop  our  welfare,  liberty, 
and  culture!'    The  new  representative  of  Charlemagne 
showed  himself  not  unmindful  of  the  Paladins  who  had 
stood  by  his  side  in  the  hour  of  victory;  by  whom  the 
basis  of  each  ^'ictory  was  laid.    Bismarck  was  raised  from 
the  rank  of  count  to  that  of  prince;  Count  Moltke  was 
made  a  Field-Marshal;  to  Von  Roon  the  title  of  count 
was  accorded.     Large  donations  in  land  and  in  money 
were  subsequently  accorded  to  the  heroes  of  the  war,  and 
fresh  honours  and  titles  added  to  those  which  the  princes 
of  the  Imperial  House  already  bore. 

One  can  hardly  experience  a  greater  sense  of  contrast 
than  in  turning  one's  thoughts  from  the  condition  of  Franco 
in  the  year  1871 — marked  by  ruin,  discord,  disintegi^ation 
—  to  that  of  Germany  —  triumphant,  powerful,  and 
occupied  in  consolidating,  by  a  mighty  principle  of 
attraction,  the  hitherto  loosely-compacted  elements  of  the 
national  policy. 


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K 


MUSICAL   SCIENCE. 


315 


GEEMAN  PEOGHESS  IN  LITERATURE, 
ART,  AND  SCIENCK 

The  comparative  silence  of  the  Roman  historians  on 
the  subject  of  the  civilization  of  the  Germans,  whom,  in 
comparison  with  their  own  refinement,  they  looked  upon 
as  barbarians,  whose  commerce^  arts,  and  sciences  were  yet 
in  their  infancy,  has  led  some  later  writers  to  describe 
the  Teutons  generally,  at  the  period  of  the  birth  of  JesuS 
Christ,  as  a  race  of  savages  little  difiering  from  the  Noi-th 
American  Hurons.  But  history,  iinconfronted  witli  no 
direct  evidence  to  support  such  a  conclusion,  is  justified 
in  drawing  other  deductions  from  indisputable  fiicts  point- 
ing in  a  contrary  direction. 

It  may  be  inferred  with  much  greater  reason  that  the 
Germans,  who,  about  the  time  of  Our  Saviour,  were 
able  with  rude  arms  and  simple  tactics  to  make  head 
against  the  Romans,  trained  in  war  by  500  years  of 
struggles  against  the  whole  of  the  then  known  world; 
that  a  people  who  held  marriage,  the  domestic  hearth, 
and  the  national  honour  as  sacred,  could  not  have  been 
in  the  state  of  barbarism  thus  represented. 

Agi-iculture,  and  the  care  of  flocks  and  herds,  pre- 
suppose a  certain  rural  economy,  and  even  necessary 
implements.  However  simple  they  might  bo,  the  Ger- 
man, by  fabricating  them  himself,  must  have  known  iiow 
to  work  in  iron,  and  equally  so  for  the  forging  of  his 
weapons.  It  is  difficult  to  cast  iron,  and  its  manii)ulation 
is  no  easy  labour.  It  is  possible  indeed  that  the  Teutons 
only  used  foreign  ore,  and  thus  had  no  occasion  to  mine 
the  mountains  in  order  to  find  it.  Tacitus,  however, 
speaks  of  iron  mines  in  Gothland,  now  Silesia;  but 
helmets  and  coats  of  mail  were  unknown  among  them 
imtil  they  conquered  the  Romans,  and  clothed  themselves 
in  their  spoils.  Theii*  weapons  were  the  spear  and  the 
long  two-handed  sword;  and  for  defence  they  carried  on 
the  left  arm  a  buckler  of  painted  wood  or  osier,  four  or 


five  feet  long,  and  two  in  breadth.  In  their  expeditions 
and  battles,  particularly  in  those  of  the  Cimbri,  we  hear 
of  waggons  and  carriages  in  great  numbers,  in  which  they 
carried'' their  wives  and  children,  and  with  which  they 
entrenched  their  camps.  At  the  same  period  the  Ger- 
mans navigated  vessels  upon  the  rivers  and  sea  coasts,  and 
even  gave  battle  to  the  Romans  in  ships.  The  art  of 
spinning  and  weaving  wool  cannot  be  carried  on  without 
a  certain  description  of  tools  and  machines;  it  was,  how- 
ever, the  daily  occupation  of  the  women.  If  the  art  of 
Louse-building  had  not  yet  far  advanced,  there  was  never- 
theless an  essential  diiference  between  the  hut  of  the 
serf,  and  the  abode  of  the  man  of  distinction,  as  history 
describes  them.  It  seems  even  probable  that  they  used 
stone  in  their  constructions,  since  they  had  cellars  or 
vaults  in  which  provisions  were  kept.  These  must 
necessarily  have  been  supported  by  walls. 

Traffic  and  Commerce  were  not  unknown  amongst  the 
ancient  Germans;  and  they  were  acquainted  with  mone}^ 
Tacitus  remarks  that  they  knew  very  well  how  to  dis- 
tinguish the  different  sorts,  and  that  for  the  small  ex- 
chaiiges  they  preferred  silver  to  gold.  Great  quantities 
of  Il'oman  coins,  found  buried  in  the  ground,  prove  that 
their  commerce  must  have  been  considerable;  although, 
indeed,  it  must  be  owned  that  the  Germans  had  taken 
much  booty  in  the  victories  over  the  Romans.  Arminius 
(Hermann),  before  the  battle  of  Idistavisus  (a.d.  16), 
offered  200  sesterces  a  day  to  each  Roman  deserter. 

Musical  Science  was  limited  to  war  songs,  and  the 
rude  instruments  before  spoken  of  (see  Introduction) ; 
and  they  had  certain  heroic  chants  for  festive  occasions. 
It  cannot  be  doubted  that  the  early  days  of  Germany 
could  boast  of  their  enthusiastic  bards  and  minstrels,  as 
in  an  earlier  time  the  Greeks  had  had  their  Homer. 
Tacitus,  indeed,  tells  us  so,  and  if  his  testimony  were 
wanting,  the  ideas  of  glory  and  grandeur  diffused  among 
the  German  people  would  sufficiently  indicate  it.  Tlie 
art  of  writing,  however,  was  as  yet  wholly  unknown  to 
them. 


i 


816 


HISTORY   OP   GERMANY. 


Hindoos,  the  G^^'eks  and  fCZ  '  '''"? ''''  '""°"8  *•'« 
other  benches  of  thel^an  ^.^^^^^^  ''^°  """"«  the 
Kelts,  the  Gennans  andTe  sXo"  £7^7^";?  ^''^ 
warred  in  GauJ,  he  obser^-ed  thlt  Z  .•  ^"^  ^*'"'' 
cremation  to  th;  fullest  extent  T.^  '*'?'  P'''''"''^"^'l 
of  the  Gauls  are  Tsk7^hl\i^"'T:::'  'T^T''' 
costly."     Those  of  tl.n  fwL„^         .f     magnificent  and 

iinueistood   Germanic  custom.      He   coii«pn„„„ti         i 
lays  stress  on  the  flxct  of  the  simpJicTtv  'f  ?  r^  °^^^ 
funei-al  being  but  slightly  dev!.,f«/'f^-       ^  t.erman 

.1.0.1.  into  ,b.  rivcS  lie,,  S  b.  tala    n   'T'"'"  ''^ 

.'  Karl  Blind  on  Dr.  Jacob  Grimm'a  masterly  spcci^d  treatise. 


CHARACTER   OF    THE   TEUTONIC   LAWS. 


017 


Conversion    of  the  Teutons  to    Christianity.  —  In 

those  districts  of  the  Rhine  and  Danube,  occupied  by  the 
Komans,  there  had  sprung  up  a  number  of  municipia 
(cities)  in  which  the  luxury,  language,  and  laws  of  Rome 
exclusively  prevailed.  From  these  cities,  after  the  recog- 
nition of  Christianity  by  Constantine,  its  doctrines  spread 
over  the  rest  of  Germany  at  fii^t  slowly;  for  it  was 
unpalatable  to  the  revengeful  spirit  which  was  a  marked 
feature  both  in  the  political  and  social  temperament  of  the 
Teutons.  A  great  portion  of  the  Goths,  however,  seemed 
to  have  embraced  Christianity  even  before  the  conversion 
of  Constantine;  for  at  the  Council  of  Nice  in  325,  at 
which  that  Emperor  presided,  there  were  present  Gothic 
bishops.  Other  races  of  Teutonic  origin  yet  remained  in 
a  condition  of  Pagan  barbarism  until  converted  by  the 
Anglo-Saxon  monk,  Winifried,  or  Boniface,  whose  mission 
has%een  noticed  in  the  first  period  of  this  history  (718- 

775  A  D  ^ 
Barbaric  Character  of  the  Teutonic  Laws.~The  laws 

of  the  Teutons  show  how  backward  they  were  in  civiliza- 
tion even  as  late  as  the  fifth  and  sixth  centuries.  Murdei 
was  not  looked  upon  as  a  great  crime,  unless  it  were 
accompanied  by  cowardice  and  treason;  and  every  kind 
of  murder  might  be  expiated  by  a  fine. 

For  the  murder  of  a  free  barbarian,  companion, 
or  leude  of  the  King,  killed  in  his  own  dwelling 
by  an  armed  band,  among  the  Salians,     . 
The  Duke   among   the    Bavarians,   the    Bishop 

among  the  Ahunans,  .... 

The  relatives  of  the  Duke  among  the  Bavarians, 
Every  leude  of  the  King,  a  count,  a  j)riest,  or 

judge  free  born,         ...         .        . 
A  deacon  among  the  Ripuarians, 
The  Salian  or  Bipuarian  freeman. 
The  barbarian  freeman  of  other  trioes, 
Tlie  slave  (a  good  workman), 
The  Koman  proprietor,         .... 
The  manumitted  slave,         .... 

The  blacksmith  slave, 

The  serf  of  the  King's  church  and  the  lloman 
tributary,  ...... 

The  swine-herd,  .    '     .         .         .         • 
Th%  »lav«  amon^  the  Bav;^riuu3»  •        •        k 


Sols. 

1500 

1)00 
GiO 

GCO 
500 
200 
1()0 
150 
100 
SO 
50 

45 
30 
89 


318 


HISTORY   OF   GERMANY. 


Ill  the  earlier  times  there  existed  no  laws,  save  those 
of  usage;  but,  by  degi^ees,  written  codes  were  introduced, 
composed  in  Latin,  the  German  languap;e  being  still  too 
rude  and  unformed  for  that  purpose.  There  was  another 
kind  of  law,  which  has  been  called  "  poetical  legislation," 
namely,  the  embodying  legal  abstractions,  or  subjecting 
them  to  the  evidence  of  the  senses.  The  rendering  sensible 
Ave  conceive  to  belong  to  the  earliest  state  of  society,  and 
gradually  to  assume  the  symbolical  character  as  a  nation 
advances  in  civilization.  At  all  events,  this  seems  to 
have  been  the  course  of  things  in  Germany.  When 
possession  of  land  was  given  by  a  clod  of  earth  from  the 
ploughed  field,  a  tiuf  from  the  meadow,  a  bmnch  of  a 
forest  tree  from  the  wood,  and  of  a  fruit  tree  or  vine 
from  the  orchard  or  vinevard  to  be  delivered,  these  acts, 
although  considered  as  partly  symbolical  by  Grimm,* 
appear,  at  least  in  the  earlier  times,  simple  modes  of 
rendering  the  delivery  evident  and  sensible,  without 
troubling  the  court  of  justice,  or  the  summoning  of 
numerous  witnesses.  The  simihir  use  made  by  the 
Romans  of  turf,  etc.,  appears  to  have  been  purely  sym- 
bolical, inasmuch  as  a  turf  cut  from  the  nearest  grass- 
plot,  we  believe,  delivered  an  estate  in  Asia.  So  was 
amongst  the  Germans  the  straw,  when  a  straw  picked 
up  in  the  road,  supplied  the  place  of  the  turf,  etc.  It 
was  plainly  a  mere  abstract  idea,  not  being  like  the  other 
things  necessarily  a  i)ai*t  of  the  property  delivered,  but 
gathered  anywhere.  Moreover  the  word  stipidatio  seems 
to  indicate  its  Latin  origin ;  and  as  its  instrumentality 
in  delivering  possession  is  found  only  amongst  the  Franks, 
or  the  countries  tliat  once  owned  their  authority,  it  is 
not  unlikely  that  they  might  adopt  it  from  their  Koman 
subjects.  But  the  mode  of  employing  it  became  more 
j)icturesque  under  the  influence  of  German  imagination. 
A  man  who  wished  to  transfer  or  bequeath  an  estate 
to  a  person  not  of  his  blood,  flung  a  straw  into  the 
bosom  of  him  to  be  endowed,  or  into  that  of  the  lord  who 
gave  it  over  to  him;  the  straw  was  thenceforward  care- 

*  T^utQHk  Legal  Antlguitkdt    By  Dr,  Jacob  Orimui« 


CHARACTER   OF   THE   TEUTONIC   LAWS. 


319 


fully  preserved  as  a  voucher  for  the  transaction.  A 
straw  was  otherwise  symbolically  used.  Breaking  a 
straw  was  a  form  of  engagement  as  solemn  and  irre- 
vocable as  the  striking  of  hands,  which  bears  a  peculiar 
name  in  almost  every  Teutonic  language,  and  is  still 
practised  among  the  lower  orders  in  Germany  as  it  is  in 
En  Inland.* 

Amongst  various  fanciful  forms  of  transacting  which 
appear  to  blend  two  characters,  some  few  are  worth 
noticing.  The  adoption  of  a  son  was  eSected  in  Lom- 
bardy  by  the  adopter's  trimming,  for  the  first  time,  the 
beard  of  tlie  adopted;  in  Scandinavia,  by  his  giving  him 
his  shoe  to  put  on.  This  form  seems  to  have  implied  a 
recognition  of  the  slioe-j)roprietor's  authority;  and,  as  such, 
was  required  from  a  bride,  who  comjileted  the  marriage 
ceremony  by  putting  on  the  bridegroom's  shoe.  Taking 
the  keys  from  a  wife  was  equivalent  to  a  divorce;  and  a 
widow  freed  herself  from  her  deceased  husband's  debts  by 
throwing  his  keys  into  his  grave,  whicli  was  a  virtual 
abandonment  of  her  claims  upon  his  property. 

We  entirely  lose  sight  of  symbols,  and  return  to  tho 
senses,  and  the  act  of  the  party  most  concerned,  in  the 
custom  of  giving  land  in  quantities  measured  by  the 
receiver's  riding,  driving,  or  crawling  over  or  round  it, 
during  some  determinate  period  of  time,  as  whilst  the 
royal  donor  bathed,  or  took  his  after-dinner  nap.  This 
custom,  however,  was  not  peculiar  to  the  Germans.  We 
find  grants  almost  literally  similar  in  Herodotus,  in  Livy, 
and  in  Oriental  history  or  fable;  and,  in  spirit,  they 
resemble  Dido's  purchase  of  the  land  a  bull's  hide  would 
cover,  which,  indeed,  was  often  literally  copied  by  Ger- 
man candidates  for  real  property.  It  went  out  of  fashion, 
probably  from  the  constant  cheating  to  which  it  seems 
to  have  given  bkth.  A  prince  of  one  of  the  most  heroic 
families  in  Germany,  the  Guelphs,  and  consequently  an 
ancestor  of  the  sovereign  of  the  British  Empire,  having 
obtained  from  the  Emperor  Louis  the  grant  of  as  much 

*  Schiller,  in  hia  Willlani    Tell,  says,  *'Tlie  peasant's  hand* 
ttrike  pledgee  a  man's  word/ 


320 


HISTORY   OF   GERMANY. 


FEUDAL   SYSTEM. 


321 


land  as  lie  could  either  plough  with  a  golden  plough  or 
drive  a  golden  waggon  round,  it  is  not  clear  which, 
during  his  imperial  majesty's  noontide  slumber,  fairly,  or 
rather  unfairly,  put  a  golden  toy-waggon  or  plough  into 
his  pocket,  and  rode  full  gallop  with  what  seems  to  havo 
been  relays  of  horses. 

This  mode  of  granting  land  originated,  probably,  in  the 
ordinary  form  of  taking  possession  of  domains,  whether 
inherited  or  otherwise  acquired,  by  riding  over  them. 
Even  kings  were  frequently  bound  thus  to  ride  round  or 
over  their  kingdoms,  after  having,  upon  their  succession 
or  election,  been  lifted  on  high  upon  a  shield,  and  thus 
exhibited  to  their  people  for  their  approbation  or  homage 
— a  practice,  by  the  way,  borrowed  from  the  Geimans  by 
the  Romans,  when  their  armies  came  to  consist  princi- 
pally of  Germans. 

Characteristics  of  the  Feudal  System  in  the  Germanic 

Empire. — The  interminable  dependence  and  superiority 
in  vassalage  of  the  feudal  system,  however  revolting  to 
the  enlightened  love  of  liberty  of  the  nineteenth  century, 
had  in  it  something  venerably  patriarchal ;  but  it  is  the 
dark  side  of  feudalism.     That  the  unfree,  or  the  whole  of 
the  inferior  classes  collectively,  were  cruelly  and  unreason- 
ably degi-aded,  is  undeniable.     The  very  appellation  of 
the  better  class  of  villeins  {litiis)  seems  to  have  been  vitu- 
perative, as  derived  from  the  adjective  "lazy."     Other 
denominations  of  the  unfree  imply  obedience  and  subjec- 
tion.    The  unfree  were  distinguished  from  the  free  by 
their  names,  or  rather  their  want  of  family  names,  by  the 
colour  and  shape  of  their  clothes,  and  by  the  cutting  of 
their  hair.     The  long  hair,  which  was  the  distinctive 
characteristic  of  the  Merovingian  kings,  seems  at  one 
time  or  other  to  have  been  common  to  all  nobles,  if  not 
to  all  freemen,  as  there  are  laws  of  several  old  nations 
extant   against   cropping   long-haired   children   without 
their  parents'  consent,  and  against  letting  the  hair  of  the 
unfree  of  either  sex  grow.     In  ftict,  the  long  hair  of  the 
higher  ranks  seems  to  have  been  held  in  almost  equal 
li«>n©ur  with  the  Ward;  a  wgman  swore,  if  not  by  hftv 


tresses,  yet  holding  them  in  her  left  hand,  whilst  her 
right  was  laid  upon  her  bosom;  and  some  of  the  old 
Scandinavian  legends  record  the  anxiety  of  heroes  at  the 
block  to  preserve  their  hair  fi*om  being  soiled  with  blood 
by  their  decapitation.  Further,  the  unfree  had  no  wergeld, 
or  fixed  damages,  for  their  murder;  but  their  lives  were 
not,  therefore,  unprotected,  except  against  their  master. 

The  patriarchal  indulgence,  modifying  the  harshness 
of  the  feudal  system,  is  pleasingly  displayed  in  the  partial 
relaxation  of  one  of  its  generally  harsher  features— the 
game  laws. 

In  the  laws  respecting  the  treatment  of  strangers  the 
admixture  of  the  kindly  and  severe  spirit  appears. 
Traveller  were  not  only  entitled  to  hospitality,  but 
whilst  journeying  were  permitted  to  cut  wood  for  the 
repair  of  their  conveyance,  whatever  that  might  be,  to 
feed  their  tired  horses  with  gi'ain,  com,  and  grass,  or  hay 
from  a  stack;  to  gather  fruit  for  themselves,  and  even  to 
catch  fish,  provided  they  lighted  a  fire,  and  dressed  and 
ate  it  upon  the  spot.  But  if  they  remained  a  year  and  a 
day  in  one  place,  they  forfeited  the  rights  of  freemen,  be- 
coming the  property  of  the  lord  of  the  soil. 

But  nowhere  does  this  mixed  character  appear  more 
strongly  than  with  regard  to  criminals.  Whilst  the 
punishments  awarded  to  guilt  are  fearfully  sanguinary, 
and  sometimes  so  disgustingly  atrocious  as  to  be  almost 
indescribable,  there  is  always  to  be  discovered  an  evident 
disposition  to  enable  the  culprit  to  escape.  Hanging 
between  wolves  and  dogs  upon  a  leafless  tree,  burning, 
boiling,  flaying,  impaling,  every  kind  of  mutilation, 
tarring  and  feathering,  casting  to  wild  beasts,  were  the 
ordinary  doom,  when  offences  were  not  compounded  for 
by  a  sum  of  money.  Cowards  were  drowned,  or  rather 
smothered,  in  mud.  Removers  of  boundary  stones  were 
buried  up  to  the  neck  in  the  earth,  and  ploughed  to  death 
with  a  new  plough  by  four  unbroken  horses,  and  a  plough- 
man who  had  never  before  turned  a  furrow.  Forest 
burners  were  seated  at  a  distance  from  a  fire  of  a  certain 
magnitude,  to  which  their  bare  feet  were  turned  till  tho 


322 


HISTORY  OF   GERMANY. 


soles  dropped  of.  But  the  most  horrible  punishments 
awaited  him  who  was  detected  in  barking  trees.  His 
navel  was  dug  out,  and  nailed  to  the  injured  tree,  round 
which  he  was  driven,  drugging  out  his  own  bowels,  and 
winding  them  upon  it  in  lieu  of  the  despoiled  bark.  And 
this  whilst  every  injury  to  a  fellow-creature,  even  murder, 
might  be  expiated  with  a  sum  of  money. 

The  Dawn  of  German  Literature  (771-800)— Prom 
Charlemagne  to  the  Accession  of  the  Swabian  Dynasty. 
— The.  reign  of  Charlemagne  may  be  considered  as  the 
commencement  of  German  literature,  although  there  are 
some  fragments  of  translations  from  ecclesiastical  books 
which  were  made  probably  prior  to  that  epoch.  Charle- 
magne, who  was  very  anxious  to  promote  the  cultivation 
of  his  native  language,  introduced  Geiman  names  of 
months.  He  ordered  the  scattered  monuments  of  the 
Teutonic  language,  particularly  laws  or  customs,  and 
songs,  to  be  collected.  He  also  ordered  the  ministei^s  of 
religion  to  preach  in  German,  and  directed  the  translation 
of  several  things  from  the  Latin  for  the  information  of 
the  common  people.  It  is  impossible  to  know  whether 
the  songs  collected  by  the  order  of  Charlemagne  were  of 
the  same  kind  as  those  which,  according  to  the  descrip- 
tion of  Tacitus,  were  in  use  among  the  Germans  about 
the  beginning  of  our  era,  or  to  form  any  correct  idea  of 
them,  as  the  collection  is  entirely  lost.  The  two  most 
ancient  German  poems  are,  the  "  Lay  of  Hildebrand  and 
Hadubrand,"  and  the  "  Prayer  of  Weiszenbrun,"  which 
have  been  published  by  Grimm,  and  which  belong  to  the 
eighth  century. 

After  the  reign  of  Charlemagne,  the  Christian  religion 
being  established  throughout  all  Germany,  many  frag- 
ments of  the  Bible  and  some  ecclesiastical  writings  were 
paraphrased  from  the  Latin  into  the  vnlgar  tongue.  The 
separation  of  the  Germanic  Empire  from  the  Frankish, 
which  took  place  in  the  middle  of  the  ninth  century, 
acted  beneficially  on  the  national  language  and  literature. 
The  earliest  known  German  poem  of  that  time  is  a  song 
written  in  commemoration  of  the  victory  which  Louis  III. 


GERMAN   POETRY. 


323 


of  France  gained  over  the  Normans  in  881.  But  tlie  most 
remarkable  production  is  the  metrical  paraphrase  of  the 
Gospels  by  Ottfried,  a  Benedictine  monk,  made  about  870, 
which  shows  an  uncommon  poetical  genius  in  the  author, 
who  had  to  contend  with  all  the  difllculties  presented  by 
a  rude  and  uncultivated  language. 

German    Poetry  — The    Minnesingers  —  From    the 
Accession  of  the  Suabian  Dynasty  to  the  Reforma- 
tion of  Luther  (1137-1517).— The  reign  of  the  Emperors 
of  the  Suabian  family  of  Hohenstauffeu  is  the  golden  age 
of  the  romantic  or  chivalrous  poetry  of  Germany.     This 
poetry  being  written  in  the  Suabian  dialect,  which  came 
into  fiishion  through  the  influence  of  the  reigning  family, 
is  generally  called  the  Suabian.     Germany  at  that  time 
had  made  great  progress  in  civilization,  particularly  by 
its  frequent  intercourse  with  Italy,  which  was  owing  to 
the  expeditions  of  the  Emperors  to  that  country.   'This 
circumstance  led  to  an  acquaintance  with  the  Troubadours 
of  Provence;  and  the  Crusades  also,  which  brought  the 
Germans  into  contact  with  the  more  civilised  nations, 
such  as  the  Greeks  and  Saracens,  powerfully  contributed 
to  advance  the  intellectual  development  of  the  nation, 
and  to  exalt  its  chivalrous  spirit.   The  poets  of  that  period 
are  known  under  the  name  of  Minnesingers,  from  the  old 
(xerman  word  minney  which  signifies  "  love."     They  may 
be  compared  in  many  respects  with  the  Troubadours  of 
Provence,  and  were  generally  knights  and  nobles,  whose 
life  was  divided  between  the  occupations  of  love,  war,  and 
devotion,   which  inspired  their   poetical   effusions  with 
tender,  noble,  and  jiious  feelings.     They  lived  chiefly  at 
the  courts  of  German  princes,  who  were  fond  of  poetry, 
and  many  of  whom  were  poets  themselves.     Such  were' 
among  others.  Emperor  Frederick  II.,  Leopold  IV.,  Duko 
of  Austria,  Henry  Margrave  of  Misnia,  Herman  Margrave 
of  Thurginia,  etc.    The  court  life,  which  was  spent  amidst 
toin-naments  and  splendid  entertainments  of  every  kind, 
gave  to  their  poetry  a  high  degree  of  refinement  and 
brilliancy.     The  decline  of  chivalry  put  an  end  to  the 
Minnesingera,  and  the  art  of  poetry  descended  from  the 


324 


HISTORY   OF   GERMANY. 


nobles  to  the  burghers  of  cities;  welfare  and  civilization 
being  secured  by  their  fortified  towns,  gave  thcui  a  decided 
advantage  over  the  nobles,  who  abandoned  themselves  to 
the  gi-eatest  excesses,  and  lived  in  a  most  lawless  state, 
being  constantly  engaged  in  mutual  feuds  and  depreda- 
tions during  the  troubles  which  agitated  tlie  German 
empire  in  the  latter  part  of  the  thirteenth  century,  after 
the  death  of  Frederick  II. 

Downfall  of  Chivalry  through  the  use  of  Gunpowder. 
— Europe,  during  the  fifteenth  century,  had  become  ripe 
for  great  reforms  which,  their  results  once  obtained,  were 
calculated  to  change  widely  the  social  condition  of  the 
masses.     The  use  of  gunpowder,  an  invention  attributed 
to  Swartz,  had  already  caused  such  an  innovation  in  tho 
art  of  war  as  to  bring  about  the  downfall  of  chivalry,  an 
institution  which  had  existed  for  centuries,  and  largely 
modified  the  middle  ages.     The  art  of  printing,  combined 
with  the  invention  of  paper  made  from  flax,  creating  a 
new  means  of  communicating  ideas,  it  became  possible  to 
act  upon  men*s  minds  from  one  end  of  Europe  to  another 
with  astonishing  rapidity.     Tlie  discoveiy  of  a  new  world, 
and  a  route  by  sea  to  the  East  Indies  had  wholly  changed 
the  paths  of  commerce;  so  that  all  the  activity  and  power 
that  followed  in  her  train  were  exchanged  between  nations 
which,  until  then,  were  scarcely  known  to  each  other. 
Diplomacy,  and  political  science  in  government,  taking 
their  rise  chiefly  in  Italy  and  France,  assumed  quite 
novel  forms.     Good  faith  was  sacrificed  to  interest,  and 
self-interest  became  the  fundamental  law  in  the  alliances 
or  enmities  of  states.     Thus,  in  the  mutual  relations  of 
nations,   another   law  governed   than   that   which   was 
expected  to  control  the  mutual  relations  existing  between 
individuals. 

The  Influence  of  Classical  Studies  and  Natural 
Philosophy  on  German  Theology.  —  The  dead-letter 
spirit,  prevalent  in  Germany  among  the  Lutherans, 
having  again  degraded  theology  to  mere  scholasticism, 
and  not  only  maintained  but  strengthened  the  ancient 
superstition    of    the    multitude    (as,    for    instance,    in 


ADVANCE  OP  GENERAL  EDUCATION. 


325 


respect  to  witchcraft),  had  gradually  vanished  as  know- 
ledge was  increased  by  the  study  of  the  classics  and  of 
natural  philosophy.     Halle  became  for  this  second  period 
of  the  lieformation  what  Wittenberg  had  been  for  the 
first.     As  Luther  formerly  struggled  against  the  monks 
and  monkish  superstition,  Thomasius  (a.d.  1728)  com- 
bated Lutheran  orthodoxy,  overthrew  the  belief  in  witch- 
ci-aft,  and  reintroduced  the  use  of  the  German  language  in 
the  cathedi-al  service,  whence  it  had  been  long  expunged. 
He  was  succee^od  (a.d.  1754)  by  the  philosopher  Wolf, 
the  scholar  of  the  great  Leibnitz,  who  beneficially  en- 
lightened the  ideas  of  the  theological  students.     Before 
long,  the   critical   study  of  the  Bible,  and   a  positive 
divinity,  which  sought  to  unite  the  Bible  with  philosophy, 
prevailed.     The  founders  of  this  school  were  Michaelis 
at  Gottingen,  Semler  at  Halle,  and  Ernesti  at  Leipzig. 
Mosheim  at  Berlin,  and  Gellert  at  Leipzig  gi-eatly  elevated 
the  tone  of  morality. 
The  Advance  of  General  Education,  Art,  and  Science. 

— In  proportion  as  the  universities  shook  off  the  yoke  im- 
posed by  theological  and  juridical  ignorance  (as  evidenced 
by  the  trials  for  witchcraft),  the  study  of  philosophy, 
languages,  history,  and  the  natural  sciences  gained  ground. 
A  wide  range  was  thus  opened  to  learning,  and  a  spirit 
of  liberality  began  to  prevail,  which,  as  the  first  effect  of 
its  cosmopolital  tendency,  completely  blunted  the  patriotic 
feelings  of  the  German,  by  rendering  his  country  a  more 
secondary  object  of  interest  and  inquiry. 

The  struggle  between  modern  ideas  and  ancient  usage 
began  also  in  the  lower  academies.  Kousseau  proposed 
the  fundamental  transformation  of  the  human  race,  and 
tho  creation  of  an  ideal  people  by  means  of  education. 
John  Basedow  attempted  to  put  his  novel  plans  of  educa- 
tion into  practice  by  the  seminary,  known  as  the  "  Philan- 
thropium,"  established  by  him  at  Dessau,  in  which  many 
excellent  teachers  were  formed,  and  by  which  gi^eat  good 
was  effected.  The  new  plans  of  education,  adopted  by 
a  few  private  establishments,  and  recommended  in  the 
numerous  new  publications  on  the  subject,  more  parti- 


324 


HISTORY   OF   GERMANY. 


noLles  to  the  burghers  of  cities;  welfare  and  civilization 
being  secured  by  their  fortified  towns,  gave  them  a  decided 
advantage  over  the  nobles,  who  abandoned  themselves  to 
the  gi'eatest  excesses,  and  lived  in  a  most  lawless  state, 
being  constantly  engaged  in  mutual  feuds  and  depreda- 
tions during  the  troubles  which  agitated  the  German 
empire  in  the  latter  part  of  the  thirteenth  century,  after 
the  death  of  Frederick  II. 

Downfall  of  Chivalry  through  the  use  of  Gunpowder. 
— Europe,  during  the  fifteenth  century,  had  become  rij)© 
for  great  reforms  which,  their  results  once  obtained,  were 
calculated  to  change  widely  the  social  condition  of  the 
masses.  The  use  of  gunpowder,  an  invention  attributed 
to  Swartz,  had  already  caused  such  an  innovation  in  tho 
art  of  war  as  to  bring  about  the  downfall  of  chivalry,  an 
institution  which  had  existed  for  centuries,  and  largely 
modified  the  middle  ages.  The  art  of  printing,  combined 
with  the  invention  of  paper  made  from  flax,  creating  a 
new  means  of  communicating  ideas,  it  became  possible  to 
act  upon  men's  minds  from  one  end  of  Europe  to  another 
with  astonishing  rapidity.  The  discoveiy  of  a  new  world, 
and  a  route  by  sea  to  the  East  Indies  had  wholly  changed 
the  paths  of  commerce;  so  that  all  the  activity  and  power 
that  followed  in  her  train  were  exchanged  between  nations 
which,  until  then,  were  scarcely  known  to  each  other. 
Diplomacy,  and  political  science  in  government,  taking 
their  rise  chiefly  in  Italy  and  Fi-ance,  assumed  quite 
novel  forms.  Good  faith  was  sacrificed  to  interest,  and 
self-interest  became  the  fundamental  law  in  the  alliances 
or  enmities  of  states.  Thus,  in  the  mutual  relations  of 
nations,  another  law  governed  than  that  which  was 
expected  to  control  the  mutual  relations  existing  between 
individuals. 

The  Influence  of  Classical  Studies  and  Natural 
Philosophy  on  German  Theology.  —  The  dead-letter 
spirit,  prevalent  in  Germany  among  the  Lutherans, 
having  again  degraded  theology  to  mere  scholasticism, 
and  not  only  maintained  but  strengthened  the  ancient 
superstition    of    the    multitude    (as,    for    instance,    in 


ADVANCE  OP  GENERAL  EDUCATION. 


325 


respect  to  witchcraft),  had  gradually  vanished  as  know- 
ledge was  increased  by  the  study  of  the  classics  and  of 
natural  philosophy.  Halle  became  for  this  second  period 
of  the  Keformation  what  Wittenberg  had  been  for  the 
first.  As  Luther  formerly  struggled  against  the  monks 
and  monkish  superstition,  Thomasius  (a.d.  1728)  com- 
bated Lutheran  orthodoxy,  overthrew  the  belief  in  witch- 
ci-aft,  and  reintroduced  the  use  of  the  German  language  in 
the  cathedral  service,  whence  it  had  been  long  expunged. 
He  was  succeeded  (a.d.  1754)  by  the  philosopher  Wolf, 
the  scholar  of  the  gi-eat  Leibnitz,  who  beneficially  en- 
lightened tlie  ideas  of  the  theological  students.  Before 
long,  the  critical  study  of  the  Bible,  and  a  positive 
divinity,  which  sought  to  unite  the  Bible  with  philosophy, 
prevailed.  The  founders  of  this  school  were  Michaelis 
at  Gottingen,  Semler  at  Halle,  and  Ernesti  at  Leipzig. 
Mosheim  at  Berlin,  and  Gellert  at  Leipzig  gi-eatly  elevated 
the  tone  of  morality. 

The  Advance  of  General  Education,  Art,  and  Science. 

— In  })roportion  as  the  universities  shook  ofl"  the  yoke  im- 
posed by  theological  and  juridical  ignorance  (as  evidenced 
by  the  trials  for  witchcraft),  the  study  of  philosophy, 
languages,  history,  and  the  natural  sciences  gained  ground. 
A  wide  range  was  thus  opened  to  learning,  and  a  spirit 
of  liberality  began  to  prevail,  which,  as  the  first  effect  of 
its  cosmopolital  tendency,  completely  blunted  the  patriotic 
feelings  of  the  German,  by  rendering  his  country  a  more 
secondary  object  of  interest  and  inquiry. 

The  struggle  between  modern  ideas  and  ancient  usago 
began  also  in  the  lower  academies.  Bousseau  proposed 
the  fundamental  transformation  of  the  human  race,  and 
the  creation  of  an  ideal  people  by  means  of  education. 
John  Basedow  attempted  to  put  his  novel  plans  of  educa- 
tion into  practice  by  the  senrinary,  known  as  the  "  Philan- 
thropium,"  established  by  him  at  Dessau,  in  which  many 
excellent  teachers  were  formed,  and  by  which  gi-eat  good 
was  effected.  The  new  plans  of  education,  adopted  by 
a  few  private  establishments,  and  recommended  in  the 
numerous  new  publications  on  the  subject,  more  parti- 


S26 


HISTORY  OP  GERMANY. 


ciilarly  owed  their  gradual  adoption  to  the  tutors,  wlio 
in  their  freer  sphere  of  action,  bestowed  their  attention 
upon  the  arts  most  useful  in  practical  life,  and,  out  of 
respect  for  the  parents,  introduced  a  more  humane  treat- 
ment of  the  children. 

Piivate  and  individual  efforts  would,  however,  have 
but  little  availed  without  the  beneficial  reformation  that 
took  place  in  the  public  academies.     In  England,  the 
study  ot  the  ancient  classics,  so  well  suited  to  the  stern 
character  and  liberal  spirit  of  the  people,  had  produced 
men  noted  for  depth  of  learning,  by  whom  the  humanities 
and  the  spirit  of  antiquity  were  revived.     Their  infiuenco 
extended  to  Hanover.     At  Gottingen,  Heyne  created  a 
school,  which  opposed  the  spirit  to  the  dead  letter,  and,  in 
the  study  of  the  classics,  sought  not  merely  an  acquaint- 
ance with  the  language,  but  also  with  the  ideas  of  ancient 
times,  and  Wmckelmann  visited  Italy  in  order  to  furnish 
Germany  with  an  account  of  the  relics  of  antiquity,  and 
to  inspue  his  countrymen  with  a  notion  of  their  sublimity 
and  beauty.     The  attention  of  the  student  was  drawn  to 
mythology  to  ancient  history,  and  an  acquaintance  with 
the  lives  of  the  ancients  led  to  the  knowledge  of  modern 
history  and  geography. 

Political  Science.— The  Dutch  took  the  lead  in  political 
science.  As  early  as  1638,  Althausen  laid  the  'najestas 
popuh  down  as  a  principle,  and  Hugo  Grotius  laid  the 
hrst  foundation  to  the  law  of  nations;  and  the  iealousy 
between  the  houses  of  Hohenzollern  and  Hapsburg  per- 
mitted Pufendorf,  a  Brandenburg  privy-counsellor,  to 
commence  a  tolerably  liberal  criticism  on  the  German 
constitution. 

■Mathematics  and  General  Science.— Tlie  study  of 

the  mathematics  was  gi-eatly  promoted  by  Liebnitz,  the 
inventor  of  differential  calculus,  and  was  carried  to  hicrher 
perfection  by  Lambert  of  Alsace,  by  the  flimily  of 
Bemouilli  of  Basle,  Euler,  etc.  The  Germans  made 
great  discoveries  in  astronomy.  Scheiuer  (a.d.  1G50) 
oiscovered  the  spots  in  the  sun;  Hevel  (a.d.  1G87)  and 
Dorfel  found  out  the  jiaths  of  the  comets;  Eimmart  of 


CHEMISTRY,   BOTANY,   AND   PHARMACOLOGY.         327 


•'■A-ljt 


Nuremberg  measured  several  of  the  fixed  stars.  Herschel 
(born  A.D.  1740,  died  a.d.  1822)  discovered,  with  his 
giant  telescope  in  England  (a.d.  1781),  the  planet  Uranus, 
nebulous  stars,  planetary  nebulae,  etc.  Huygens  improved 
the  telescope,  Lowenhoek  and  Hontsoecker  the  micro- 
scope (in  Holland).  Lieberktihn  of  Breslau  invented 
the  solar  microscope;  Tschirnhausen,  burning-glasses; 
Snell  discovered  the  laws  of  refaction.  The  study  of- 
physics  was  gi^eatly  promoted  by  Otto  von  Guericke, 
burgomaster  of  Magdeburg  (a.d.  1686),  the  inventor  of 
the  air-pump  and  of  the  electrifying  machine;  by  Sturm 
(a.d.  1703),  the  founder  of  experimental  physics;  by 
Fahrenheit,  who  (a.d.  1714)  invented  the  thermometer; 
by  Kercher,  the  inventor  of  the  speaking  trumpet;  by 
Hansen,  who  improved  the  electrifying  machine. 

Chemistry. — Among  the  chemists,  before  whose  science 
alchemy  fled,  Glauber,  who  gave  his  name  to  a  celebrated 
salt,  Becher,  Stahl,  Brand,  the  discoverer  of  phosphorous, 
and  Gmelin  merit  particular  mention.  Werner  acquired 
great  note  as  a  mineiulogist  at  the  close  of  the  eighteenth 
century.  ^..;.. 

Botany  was  industriously  studied  by  Haller  of  Switzer- 
land, Klein,  the  noted  travellers  Pallas,  Blumenbach, 
and  Bechstein,  were  celebrated  as  zoologists.  Geography 
and  natural  history  were  greatly  promoted  by  travels, 
undertaken  for  scientific  purposes.  Reinhold  and  Georgo 
Forster  accompanied  Cook  round  the  world  (a.d.  1716). 
Carsten  Niebuhr  was  the  most  celebrated  among  the 
travellers  in  Persia  and  Arabia.  Pallas  and  Gmelin 
explored  Siberia. 

In  Pharmacology  the  Germans  have  done  more  than 
any  other  nation;  after  them  the  Dutch.  Helmont, 
although  not  free  from  the  alchemical  prejudices  of  his 
age,  did  much  good  by  his  dietary  method,  all  diseases, 
according  to  him,  proceeding  from  the  stomach.  Hermann 
Boerhaave,  the  most  eminent  physician  of  his  time,  en- 
couraged by  the  anatomical  discoveries  of  Lowenhoek 
and  Buysch,  carefully  investigated  the  internal  formation 
of  the  human  body  in  search  of  the  primary  causes  of 


328 


filSTORY  OF  GERMANir. 


ART   AKD   fashion. 


329 


diseases,  but  was  led  astray  by  the  meclianical  notion 
that  all  diseases  originated  in  the  improper  circulation 
or  diminution  of  the  humours  of  the  body.  Boerhaave's 
numerous  works  are,  nevertheless,  still  regarded  as  text- 
books by  the  profession;  his  knowledge  as  an  anatomist, 
chemist,  and  botanist,  as  well  as  the  causes,  nature,  and 
treatment  of  diseases,  was  unrivalled.  In  Germany  proper, 
medicine  was  not  brought  to  any  degree  of  perfection 
until  a  later  period.  The  discovery  of  animal  magnetism 
by  Mesmer  (a.d.  1775),  was  an  important  one,  not  only 
in  medicine,  but  more  particularly  in  psychology.  It 
was  first  studied  as  a  science  by  Gmelin,  professor  of 
chemistry  and  natural  history  at  Gottingen,  and  has 
since  engaged  the  attention  of  numerous  physicians  and 
psychologists.  A  miraculous  property  has  been  attributed 
to  this  discovery,  which  is  certainly  one  of  the  most 
extraordinary  ever  made  in  inventive  Germany.  Som- 
mering  was  the  most  eminent  of  the  German  anatomists. 
Gall  gained  a  transient  fame  by  his  novel  phrenological 
ideas,  and  Lavater  of  Zurich  by  his  science  of  ])hysiog- 
nomy.  The  belief  in  apparitions  was  again  spread  through- 
out the  Protestant  world  by  this  pious  enthusiast,  and 
by  Jung  Stilling,  whilst  Father  Gassner,  at  the  same 
time,  about  a.d.  1770,  inspired  the  Catholic  population 
of  Upper  Swabia  with  terror  by  his  exorcism. 

Philosophy  gave,  however,  at  that  period  the  tone  to 
learning.  .The  eighteenth  century  was  termed  the  age 
of  philosophy,  being  that  in  which  the  French  began  in 
their  Encyclopsedia  to  regard  all  human  knowledge  in 
an  independent  point  of  view,  neither  ecclesiastical  nor 
Christian.  The  Germans,  although  borrowing  their 
frivolous  mock-enlightenment  from  France,  imitated  the 
English  in  the  serious  study  of  philosophy  and  philology. 
Under  the  protection  of  the  King  of  England,  Von 
Leibnitz,  the  mathematician  and  philosopher,  shone  at 
Hanover,  like  Albertus  Magnus,  in  every  branch  of 
learning.  His  system  was  a  union  of  the  Christian 
mysticism  of  former  times,  and  of  the  scholastic  scientific 
modern  philoso2>hy,  the  result  of  the  study  of  mathematics 


and  the  classics.  The  gi-adual  deviation  of  philosophy 
from  Christianity,  and  the  increasing  similarity  between 
it  and  heathenism,  were  in  accordance  with  the  spirit  of 
the  age.  In  1677,  Spinosa,  the  Dutch  Jew,  reproduced, 
with  subtle  wit,  the  old  doctrine  of  the  mystic  Weigel, 
concerning  the  original  conti^adictions  apparent  in  the 
world,  which  he  explained,  not  by  a  Christian  idea  of 
love,  but  by  a  mathematical  solution.  Spinosa  renounced 
the  Jewish  religion  for  that  of  Calvin.  He  afterwards 
became  a  Mennonist,  and  at  last  fell  into  the  most 
dangerous  scepticism,  if  not  downright  atheism.  Mathe- 
matical reasoning  was  certainly  useful  for  the  proper 
arrangement  of  ideas,  but  was  essentially  devoid  of  pur- 
port. In  England,  it  led  to  mere  scepticism,  to  a  system 
of  doubt  and  negation,  whence,  instead  of  returning  to 
the  study  of  theology,  the  English  philosophers  turned  to 
a  zealous  research  in  psychology,  in  which  they  were 
imitated  by  the  Germans,  Platner,  Reimarus,  Mendelssohn, 
the  physician  Zimmermann,  etc.;  all  of  whom  were  sur- 
passed by  Kant,  in  1804,  at  Konigsberg,  in  his  "Critical 
Inquiiy  into  the  Natiu-e  of  Pure  Reason,"  which  contains 
a  critical  analysis  of  every  mental  faculty. 

Art  and  Fashion. — Although  Art  had,  under  French 
influence,  become  unnatural,  bombastical,  and  contrary 
to  every  rule  of  good  taste,  the  courts,  vain  of  their 
collections  of  works  of  art,  still  emulated  each  other  in 
the  patronage  of  the  artists  of  the  day,  whose  creations, 
tasteless  as  they  were,  nevertheless  afforded  a  species  of 
consolation  to  the  people,  by  diverting  their  thoughts 
from  the  miseries  of  daily  existence.  Architecture  de- 
generated in  the  greatest  degree.  Its  sublimity  was 
gradually  lost  as  the  meaning  of  the  Gothic  style  became 
less  undei*stood,  and  a  tasteless  imitation  of  the  Roman 
style,  like  that  of  St.  Peter's  at  Rome,  was  brought  into 
vogue  by  the  Jesuits  and  by  the  court-architects,  by  whom 
the  chateau  of  Versailles  was  deemed  the  highest  chef- 
(Toeuvre  of  art.  Miniature  tuniery-ware  and  microscopical 
sculpture  also  came  into  fashion.  This  taste  was  not, 
however,  utterly  useless.     The  predilection  for  ancient 


i 


330 


HISTORY  OP  GERMANY. 


ARCHITECTURE. 


331 


gems  promoted  the  study  of  the  remains  of  antiquity,  as 
Stosch,  Lippert,  and  Winckelmaun  prove,  and  that  of 
natural  history  was  greatly  facilitated  by  the  collection 
of  natural  curiosities. 

Painting. — The  style  of  painting  was,  however,  still 
essentially  German,  although  deprived  by  the  Reforma- 
tion and  by  French  influence  of  its  ancient,  sacred,  and 
spiritual  character.  Nature  was  now  generally  studied 
in  the  search  after  the  beautiful.  Among  the  pupils  of 
Eubens,  the  great  founder  of  the  Dutch  school,  Jordaens 
was  distinguished  for  brilliancy  and  force  of  execution, 
Van  Dyk  for  grace  and  beauty,  although  principally  a 
portrait  painter,  and  incapable  of  idealising  his  subjects, 
in  which  Rembrandt,  who  chose  more  extensive  historical 
subjects,  and  whose  colouring  is  remarkable  for  depth 
and  effect,  was  equally  deficient.  Whilst  cei-tain  of  these 
painters,  such  as  the  two  Mieris,  Terbourg  and  Nelschcr, 
Honthorst,  Van  der  Werf,  and  Van  Loo,  belonged  to  the 
higher  orders  of  society,  of  which  their  works  give  evi- 
dence, numerous  othei^  studied  the  lower  classes  with 
still  greater  success,  as  Teniei^,  Ostade,  and  Jan  Steen. 
Landscape  painting  alone  gave  evidence  of  a  higher  style. 
In  the  commencement  of  last  century,  landscape  painting 
also  degenerated,  and  became  mere  ornamental  flower 
l)ainting,  of  which  the  Dutch  were  so  passionately  fond 
that  they  honoured  and  paid  the  most  skilful  artists  in 
this  style  like  princes.  Huysum  was  the  most  celebrated 
of  the  flower  paintei-s,  with  Rachel  Ruysch,  Von  Arless, 
and  others  of  lesser  note.  Fruit  and  kitchen  pieces  were 
also  greatly  admired.  Hondekotter  was  celebi-ated  as  a 
painter  of  birds. 

Painting  was,  in  this  manner,  confined  to  a  slavish 
imitation  of  nature,  for  whose  lowest  objects  a  ju-edilec- 
tion  was  evinced  until  the  middle  of  the  eighteenth 
century,  when  a  style,  half  Italian,  half  antique,  was 
introduced  into  Gemiany  by  the  oi)ei*as,  by  travellei-s, 
and  more  particularly  by  the  galleries  founded  by  piinces, 
and  was  still  further  promoted  by  the  learned  researches 
of  connoisseurs,  more  especially  by  those  of  Winckelmaun. 


I 


Architecture  flourished  during  the  Middle  Ages,  paint- 
ing at  the  time  of  the  Reformation,  and  music  in  modern 
times.  The  same  spirit  that  spoke  to  the  eye  in  the 
eternal  stone,  now  breathed  in  transient  melody  to  the 
ear.  The  science  of  music,  transported  by  Dutch  artists 
into  Italy,  had  been  there  assiduously  cultivated;  the 
Italians  had  speedily  surpassed  their  masters,  and  had 
occupied  themselves  with  the  creation  of  a  peculiar  church 
music  and  of  the  profane  opera,  whilst  the  Netherlands 
and  the  whole  of  Germany  was  convulsed  by  bloody 
religious  wars.  On  turning  to  the  history  of  those  neigh- 
bouring countries,  it  will  be  found  that  the  glorious  epoch 
of  French  literature  (reign  of  Louis  XIV.),  was  certainly 
a  century  later  than  tliat  of  the  English,  whilst  the 
literature  of  Germany,  a  country  which  now  excels  in 
Arts  as  well  as  Arms,  is  of  a  still  later  date. 


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INDEX. 


AT>ALGi8irs,  king  of  Lombardy,  driven 
into  exile  by  Charlemagne,  01. 

Adelbert,  bishop  of  Brunen,  shares  the 
regency  with  Hanno,  his  character 
and  conduct,  103. 

Adolnh  of  Nassau  procures  the  imperial 
crown  by  bribery,  153;  his  throne  de- 
clared vacant,  is  slain  near  Worms, 

Adrian  I.,  Pope,  implores  the  aid  of 

Charlemagne,  t>0. 
Adrian  IV.,  his  arrogant  pretensions, 

121.  „      ,     „, 

.ZEgidius  adopted  chief  of  the  Franks,  31. 
ittius  conquers  Attila,  30. 
Agnes  (regent-mother  of  Henry  IV.), 

troubles  of  her  regency,  101. 
Alaric  (the  Visigoth)  despoils  Greece 

and  invades  Italy,  20. 
Albert  of  Austria  (son  of  Rodolph  I.) 

chosen  by  the  electow  to  fill  the 

throne  vacant  by  the  deposition  of 

Adolph  of  Nassau,  his  character  and 

life,  i-evolt  of  the  Swiss  Cantons,  154; 

is  assassinated  by  his  nephew  and 

other  conspirators,  156. 
Al»>ert  II.  of  Austria  (son-in-law  of 

Sigismund),  his  brief  reign  of  scarcely 

two  years,  181.  ,  ^^^    , 

Albert  of  Saxony,  the  heavy  debt  of 

gratitude  owed  him  by  Maximilian 

I-.  191.  ,   ^  , 

Albert  of  Longwy,  ci-eated  Duke  of 

Upper  Lorraine,  101. 
Albert  th6  Bear,  founder  of  the  Mar- 

gi-aviate  of  Bmndenburg   and  the 

city  of  Berlin,  115. 
Albert   the   Degenerate,   margrave   of 

Thuringia,   sella    his   territories  to 

Adolph  of  Nassau,  153. 
Alfonso  X.  the  ]Vue  (of  Spain)  pur- 
chases the  crown  of  Germany,  143; 

his  claim  set  aside,  147. 
Almayne,  name  of,  whence  derived,  9. 
Anabaptists.  The,   seize  on  Mimster, 

Aline  of  Brittany  married  by  proxy  to 
Maximilian  I.:  assumes  the  title  of 
Queen  of  the  Romans,  189;  com- 
pelled to  accept  Charles  VIII.  of 
France  as  her  husband,  consequences 
of  the  rupture  of  the  marriage,  190. 


Ansegise,  son  of  Arnoulf,  43. 
Arcadius  obtains  the  empire  of  the 

East,  20. 
Ardouin,  a  margrave,  made  King  of 

Italy,  94. 
Ariovistus  defeated  by  Caesar,  17. 
Arminius    (Hermann)    destroys   the 

legions  of  Varus,  18. 
Arnold  of  Brescia,  seeking  to  restore 
the  ancient  Roman  republic,  is  put 
to  death,  121. 
Arnould,  king  of  Germany,  defeats  the 

Normans,  74. 
Arnoulf,  bishop  of  Metz,  48. 
Astolphus,  king  of  the  Lombards,  con- 
quered by  Pepin,  54. 
Ataulf  (the  Visigoth)  wrests  Spain  from 

the  Suevi  and  Alains,  22. 
Attila   (the    Hun),    his    invasion   of 

Euroi>e;  defeated  by  iEtius,  80. 
Augustus  Ca»ar,  rebellion  of  the  Ger- 
mans against,  17;  loss  of  his  legions 
under  Yams,  18. 
Augustus  III.  of  Poland,  his  succession 
disputed  by  Stanislaus  Ijeczinski,  257. 
Augsburg,  the  Diet  of,  209. 
Austerlitz  and  the  treaty  of  Presbura 

274. 
Austria,  the  House  of,  loses  its  jire- 

iwnderance  in  Euroi^e,  248. 
Austrian  sway  in  Italy,  re-establish- 
nient  of,  293;  its  aggression  in  Italy 
opposed  by  France,  294;  collapse  of 
its  system  of  repression,  296. 
Austrian  Question,  The,  a  new  element 

of  discord  in  Euroi>e,  297. 
Azzo,  lord  of  Milan  and  Genoa,  becomes 
allied  to  the  Guelphs,  99. 

Banier,  the  Swedish  general,  repeat- 
edly defeats  the  inii)erialists,  242; 
lays  waste  Thuringia;  his  retreat  and 
death,  243. 

Bavaria,  Duke  Henry  of,  his  attempt 
on  the  crown  of  Germany,  91. 

Berenger,  duke  of  Ivrea,  usurps  rejral 
power  in  Italy,  deposed  by  Otho  the 
Lion,  88. 

Bernard  of  Hildesheim,  his  elevated 
character,  94. 

Bernard,  abbot  of  Claiivaux,  preaches 
the  Second  Crusade,  116. 


334 


INDEX. 


INDEX. 


335 


Bertha  of  Susa,  queen  of  Henry  IV., 
her  admirable  cliaracter,  lOo. 

Bethlem  Gabor,  prince  of  Transyl- 
vania, 23fi. 

Bismarck,  Count,  raised  to  the  rank  of 
Prince,  312. 

Black  Death,  The,  destroys  one-third 
of  the  population,  1(37. 

Bonaparte,  Napoleon,  his  campaign 
Against  the  Austrians,  2G7;  his  im- 
petuous march  ui>ou  Vienna,  brings 
over  Austria  to  sign  a  peace,  2G8; 
his  policy  of  creating  disunion  be- 
tween Austria  and  Pi-ussia,  sud- 
denly embarks  for  Egypt,  260:  aftUirs 
to  his  assumption  of  the  chief  power, 
270;  reconquers  Italy  from  the  Aus- 
trians, 272 :  chosen  Emperor,  273  ; 
humiliates  the  Emperor  of  Austria 
and  deposes  the  Po^w,  275;  defeats 
the  Prussians  at  Auerstadt  and  Jena, 
and  their  monarchy  ceases  to  exist, 
275;  wins  the  battles  of  Eylau  and 
Friedland,  results  of  the  JPeace  of 
Tilsit,  276;  his  conquests,  277;  Aus- 
tria rises  against  him,  278 ;  at  the 
summit  of  power;  the  Russian  cam- 
paign, 270;  the  German  caniiKiign, 
281;  campaign  of  1S14,  284;  Peace  of 
Paris,  Congress  of  Vienna,  286;  cam- 
paign of  four  days  (Waterloo),  287. 

Boniface,  St.,  the  apostle  of  Germany, 
54,  58. 

Brnnehaut,  queen  of  Siegehert,  her 
crimes  and  terrible  death,  43. 

Burgundians,  The,  found  a  kingdom  in 
Gaul.  22. 

Burgundy,  conquest  of,  by  the  sons  of 
Ciovis,  39 ;  reunited  to  Germany 
under  Conrad  II.,  07. 

Byzantine  empire.  The,  destruction  of 
by  Mahomet  II.,  183. 

C^SAR,  Julius,  his  conquests  on  the 
Rhine,  17. 

Campo  Formic,  treaty  of,  2G8. 

Canute,  king  of  England,  at  corona- 
tion of  Conrad  II.  at  Rome,  07. 

Carloman  I.  (son  of  Charles  Martel),  53. 

Carloman  II.  (son  of  Pepin  the  SUoit), 
55. 

Carlovingians,  their  origin,  53;  their 
extinction  in  Germany,  70. 

Charlemagne  (Charles  the  Great),  his 
character  and  career,  56 ;  his  long 
wars  with  the  Saxons,  he  sulxiues 
and  Christianises  them,  59 ;  con- 
quei-8  Didier,  kingof  Lombardy,  sub- 
dues Southern  Italy,  61;  his  war  in 
Spain,  becomes  Emperor  of  the  West, 
62;  extent  of  his  empire,  68;  results 
«f  his  wars  and  conquests,  65;  his 


death,  CO;  his  eropii-c  rent  asunder, 
72. 

Charibert  I.,  king  of  Paris,  41. 

Charibert  II.,  king  of  Aquftaine,  47. 

Charles  of  Anjou  (brother  of  Louis  IX. 
of  France)  defeats  and  slays  Manfretl 
at  Boneventum,  and  takes  iwssessioa 
of  his  dominions,  144;  infuriated  by 
the  conspiracy  of  the  Sicilian  Ves- 
pers, lays  siege  to  Messina,  hut  is 
compelled  to  retire  to  Calabria.  146. 

Charles  the  Bald  (first  king  of  later 
France)  defeated  at  And.-rnach  by 
his  nephews,  73. 

Charles  the  Fat  offered  the  crown  of 
France,  73;  his  character;  cedes 
Friedland  to  Godfrey  the  Norman, 
and  afterwanls  murdei-s  him,  73 ; 
purchases  a  disgraceful  peace  of  the 
Normans,  73;  his  deposition  and 
death,  74 ;  the  Carlovingian  empira 
irrevocably  dismembered,  74. 

Charles  IV.,  margrave  of  Moravia  (son 
of  John  of  Bohemia),  electetl  King  of 
the  Romans,  and  declare<iemi>eror  by 
Clement  VI.,  164;  from  his  shame- 
ful capitulation  with  the  Pojje,  the 
princes  are  unwilling  to  confirm  his 
election;  the  imi>erial  crown  offered 
to  Edward  III.  of  England;  his  state 
craft,  the  tool  of  p,n)al  and  French 
policy,  165;  among  the  first  to  flee  at 
Crecy,  whilst  his  blind  father  bravely 
falls;  publishes  the  Golden  Bull,  and 
imprudently  places  the  whole  power 
of  the  state  in  the  hands  of  the  elec- 
tors, 166;  his  character  and  career, 
167. 

Charles  the  Rash,  duke  of  Burgundy, 
invades  the  Rhenish  provinces,  his 
daughter  and  heiress  Mary  betrothed 
to  Maximilian,  son  of  Frederick  III., 
185. 

Charles  V.  of  Austria  (grandson  of 
Maximilian,  and  king  of  Spain), 
elected  emi)eror;  the  Ujost  powerful 
monarch  of  the  age  of  the  Reforma- 
tion; his  career;  declared  enemy  of 
Francis  I.,  struggle  between  Austria 
and  France,  204;  state  of  Germany 
on  his  arrival  there,  205 ;  league 
against  Francis  I.,  206;  places  his 
preceptor  on  the  papal  throne;  the 
war  in  Italy;  the  Constable  of  Bour- 
bon deserts  to  the  emi>eror,  207; 
Rome  captured  and  sacked  by  the 
Imperialists,  208;  cam iiaigns  against 
the  Turks,  209;  attempts  the  con- 
quest of  France;  his  disastrous  expe- 
dition against  Algiers,  212;  10,000 
Imperialists  fall  in  the  battle  of 
Cerisoles,  213;  Philip,  his  ion,  mar- 


ries Iklary  of  England;  Charles  abdi- 
cates, 217;  his  death,  210. 

Charles  I.  of  England  aids  Gustavus 
Adolphus  against  Austria,  239. 

Charles  VI.  (younger  son  of  Leopold 
I.)  presumptive  heir  of  Charles  II. 
of  Spain,  lands  at  Lisbon  with  Eng- 
lish and  Dutch  troops  to  enforce  his 
claim,  254;  dominions  awarded  to 
him  by  the  Treaty  of  Utrecht;  result 
of  the  Spanish  succession  war,  255; 
issues  the  Pragmatic  Sanction:  the 
last  male  offspring  of  the  House  of 
Austria-llapsburg,  257. 

Charles  Albert,  elector  of  Bavaria, 
chosen  emperor  in  opposition  to 
Maria  Theresa,  by  the  title  of  Charles 

VII.,  258.  .    .     X 

Charles,  the  archduke,  of  Austria, 
beats  the  French  under  Jourdan, 
and  comi>el8  Moreau  to  retreat;  re- 
organises the  Austrian  army  in  Italy, 
267-  his  pUin  of  ojierations  against 
Bonaparte,  268;  defeats  Jourdan  at 
Ostrach,  270.  , 

Childobert  II.  reunites  Austria  and 
Burgundy,  47.  ,    .  .. 

Childebert  and  Clotaire,  their  expedi- 
tions and  conquests,  41. 

Childeric  driven  into  exile  by  the 
Franks  31. 

Childeric*  III.  (the  last  Merovingian) 

»•  deposed,  54. 

Chili^eric,  king  of  Neustna,  marries 
Fredegonde,  43.  . 

Christianity,  the  spread  of,  in  Hun- 
gary, Poland,  Norway,  Sweden, 
Denmark,  and  Russia,  05. 

Christian  IV.  of  Denmark  is  opposed 
in  the  Thirty  Years'  War  by  Tilly 
and  Wallen stein;  exi>elled  from  the 
empire,  238. 

Cimbri,  their  invasions,  16. 

Clement,  Pope,  declaies  the  throne  of 
Apulia  vacant,  and  offers  it  to 
Charlesof  Anjou,  144.      ,  ,    ^  ^  . 

Clodion,  the  Salian  chief,  defeated  by 

^tius,  28.  ,    ,     XT     T. 

Clodomir  slain  in  battle  by  the  Bur- 
gundians, 41. 

Clotaire  I.,  his  ferocity,  42. 

Clotaire  II.,  sole  king  of  the  Franks, 

43. 
Clotilda,  a  Christian  princess,  marries 

the  pagan  Ciovis,  30. 
Ciovis  founds  the  Frankish  monarchy, 

31. 

Commercial  union  of  Gennany,  202. 

Confederation  of  the  Rhine,  dissolu- 
tion of  the  Germanic  empire,  274. 

Conrad  I.  of  Fi-anconia,  liis  short  and 
difficult  reign,  77. 


Conrad    II.    surnamed    The    Salian^ 
elected    emperor,    00 ;    forces    Odo, 
count  of  Champagne,  to  acknowledge 
him  King  of  Burgundy,  97;  his  army 
decimated  by  the  plague  in  Italy, 
98;  diesof  the  plague,  98;  imi>ortant 
law  promulgated  by  him  in  Italy 
and  Gennany,  09. 
Conrad  III.,  the  empire  divided  into 
two  imrties,Guelphs  and  Ghibellines, 
115;  ''takes  the  Cross"  on  Bernard 
preaching  the  Second  Crusade,  116; 
the  shame  and  dishonour  attendant 
uiwn  it,  117;  dies  at  Bamberg,  118. 
Conrad  IV.  (son  of  Frederick  II.),  by 
his  father's  will  inherits  the  crown ; 
placed  under  the  ban  of  the  Church, 
and  his  title  pronounced  null  by  the 
Poi)e;  conquers  Naples;  on  his  re- 
turn to  Germany  confronted  with 
William  of  Holland  whom  he  de- 
feiits;  falls  sick  and  dies,  not  without 
suspicion  of  poison,  142. 
Couradino  of  Swabia  (son  of  Conrad 
IV.),  invited  to  resume  tlie  throne  of 
Apulia;  attempts  to  drive  the  French 
out  of  Italy,  enters  Rome  in  triumph, 
144;  his  army  cut  to  pieces  in  Apulia; 
betrayed  by  Frangipani  of  Astura, 
and    delivered    up    to    Charles    of 
Anjou;  his  sad  fate,  145. 
Constance  (wife  of  Henry  VI.),  heiress 

of  the  last  Norman  King  of  Sicily. 
Constance  (daughter  of  Manfred), 
avenges  the  murder  of  Conradino  by 
the  conspiracy  of  the  Sicilian  Ves- 
pei*s,  146. 
Cornwall,  Richard,  earl  of  (brother  of 
Henry  III.  of  England),  purch.ises 
the  empire,  and  is  crowned  at  Aix, 

Corvinus,  Matthias  (son  of  Hunnides), 
raised  to  the  throne  of  Hungary,  183. 

Council  of  Constance,  The.  its  pi-ofe.ssed 
objects  the  extinction  of  schism,  and 
reformation  of  the  Church,  174;  the 
close  of;  its  consequences,  179. 

Crescentius,  his  insurrection  against 
Otho  III.,  and  death,  03. 

Crusade,  the  First,  its  influence  on  the 
authority  of  Rome,  03. 

Crusade,  the  Second,  preached  by  St. 
Bernard,  116. 

Crusade,  the  Third,  urged  on  the 
princes  of  Europe  by  Gregory  VIII., 

128 
Cunegonda,  wife  of  Henry  the  Saint, 

"95. 
Cunihilda  (daughter  of  Canute),  re* 
suits  of  her  marriage  with  Henry, 
son  of  Conrad,  97;  dies  of  the  plagu* 
in  Italy,  98. 


336 


INDEX 


INDEX. 


337 


Dagobrrt  I.,  king  of  the  Austrasians, 
niurdei"8  his  brother,  48. 

Denmark  and  the  duchies,  295. 

Desiderata,  a  Lombard  princess,  mar- 
ried to  Charlemagne,  CO. 

Didier  (or  Desiderius),  king  of  the 
Lombards,  captive  to  Charlemagne, 
61. 

Drusus,  his  victories  over  North  Ger- 
many, 17. 

EoBERT,  of  Brunswick,  count,  saves 
the  young  Emiieror  Henry  IV.  from 
drowning,  102. 

EUzabeth  (daughter  of  James  I.  of 
England),  queen  of  Bohemia,  her 
ambitious  character,  236. 

Emigrations,  a  series  of,  continued 
from  375  a.D.  to  5G8  a.d.,  20. 

Enzio  (son  of  Frederick  II.),  king  of 
{Sicily,  kept  prisoner  during  24  years 
by  the  Bolognese,  140. 

Esthonia,  subdued  by  the  knighU  of 
the  Cross  and  Sword,  136. 

Eudes  (son  of  Robert  the  Strong),  with- 
stands a  year's  siege  of  Paris,      . 

Eugene,  Prince,  his  victories,  253. 

Ferdinand  I.  (brother  of  Charles  V.), 
elected  King  of  the  Romans,  210; 
succeeds  as  emperor;  his  claim  to 
Bohemia  involves  a  long  war,  220; 
the  temiM)ral  dependence  of  the 
empire  on  the  See  of  Rome  ends; 
endeavoui-s  unsuccessfully  to  effect 
a  union  of  the  two  Communions, 
221 ;  Council  of  Trent,  222. 

Fei-dinand  ll.of  Austria  (son  of  Charles, 
duke  of  Styria,  and  grandson  of 
Ferdinand  I.),  his  dark  and  hopelesa 

ijosition  on  his  accession,  235;  the 
'rotestant  States  subdued,  and  that 
religion  abolished  in  Bohemia;  the 
leaders  exiled,  or  put  to  death,  238; 
causes  Wallenstein  to  be  secretly 
assassinated;  his  unjust  and  cruel 
policy  aud  character,  241;  he  dies, 
leaving  behind  an  odious  name,  246. 

Ferdinand  III.  (son  of  Ferdinand  II.), 
succeeds  without  opiwsition,  and 
pursues  his  father's  line  of  policy, 
242;  his  death  and  character,  245. 

Ferdinand  I.,  emperor  of  Austria  (son 
«)f  Francis,  the  last  of  the  German, 
iind  Jirst  of  the  Austrian  emperors), 
led  by  his  minster.  Prince  Mettav- 
nich,  294. 

Flagellants,  The,  accuse  the  Jews  of 
jjoisoning  the  wells  and  fountains, 
who  are  persecuted  with  incredible 
fury,  108. 

Fontenaille,  battle  of,  70. 


Francis  I.,  struggle  between,  and 
Charles  V.,  league  against,  206:  the 
defection  of  the  Constable  of  Bour- 
bon; taken  prisoner  at  Pavia;  re- 
leased on  yielding  to  Charles  V.  the 
duchy  of  Burgundy,  207. 

Francis  I.  of  Lomiine,  consort  of 
Maria  Theresa,  elected  emperor,  251». 

Francis  II.  (eldest  son  of  Ijeoi)old  II.), 
enters  into  an  alliance  with  Frederick 
William  of  Prussia  against  the 
French  Republic,  264;  campaign  of 
the  French  against  the  empire,  265: 
the  French  penetrate  into  the  heart 
of  the  empire,  266;  by  a  treaty  made 
with  Bonaparte,  France  gains  the 
preponderance  in  Europe,  269 ; 
Austria  assisted  by  the  Russians, 
270;  murder  of  the  French  pleni- 
potentiaries at  Rastadt,  271  :  the 
Austrians  defeat  the  French  in  Italy, 

217. 

France  and  Austria,  disagreement  be- 
tween, in  1859,  299;  the  war  hi  Italy, 
300. 

Franco-Prussian  war  (1870-1871),  308. 

France  becomes  the  lending  European 
power,  248:  its  influence  over  tho 
affairs  of  the  empire,  251. 

Franconia,  the  House  of,  95. 

Franks,  The,  a  union  of  several  Ger- 
manic tribes,  28:  they  unite  them- 
selves with  the  Romans  in  Gaul  to 
oppose  Attila,  29;  their  religion  the 
worship  of  Odin,  32;  their  jmssion 
for  war,  32;  division  of  the  Frank 
monarchy  between  the  sonsof  Clovis, 
38;  second  partition  of  the  kingdom 
between  the  sons  of  Clotaire,  42. 

Fi-edegonde,  queen  of  Chiljieric,  her 
fearful  crimes  and  death,  43. 

Frederick,  duke  of  Swabia,  brother-in- 
law  of  Henry  V.,  a  candidate  for 
the  imperial  crown;  his  rolentless 
hostility  to  Lothar  of  Saxony,  113. 

Frederick  I.  surnamed  Barbaro»»n, 
duke  of  Swabia,  elected  emi>eror, 
his  i)ersonal  qualities  and  character; 
restores  the  duchy  of  Bjivaria  to 
Henry  the  Lion,  son  of  Henry  the 
Proud,  \\%;  settles  a  quarrel  between 
Sweyn  and  Canute  touching  Den- 
mark, 119;  compels  Boleslas,  king 
of  Poland,  to  do  him  homage;  re- 
establishes the  ancient  influence  of 
Germany  in  Bui-gundy  by  his 
marriage  with  Beatrice,  the  Bur- 
gundian  heiress,  119;  deputies  from 
Lodi  having  implored  his  aid  against 
the  Milanese,  he  crosses  the  Alps 
;  with  an  army,  and  promptly  enforces 
homage  of   most  of   the  Lombaid 


cities:  aft^r  being  crowned  King  of 
Lorabardy,  he  marches  upon  Rome, 
120;  holds  Adrian's  stirrup,  and  is 
crowned  by  that  Pope;  his  expedition 
against  the  Normans  in  the  south 
fails  through  the  unhealthiness  of  the 
climate,  122;  the  quarrel  between 
Poi>e  and  Emperor;  Vo\yQ  and  Anti- 
poi>e,  123  :  the  rebellious  Milanese 
sulxiued;  they  again  revolt,  and  after 
a  three  years*  siege  Milan  surrenders 
at  discretion,  and  is  razed  to  its 
foundations,  125;  is,  with  his  con- 
sort, crowned  at  Rome;  his  army 
being  assailed  by  a  pestilence,  he 
secretly  quits  It.aly  for  Germany; 
his  vigorous  extension  of  the  House 
of  Hohen.staufen,  126  ;  he  crosses 
the  Aljw  for  the  fifth  time,  and  lays 
siege  to  Ales.sandria,  V>ut  fails  to 
reduce  it;  suffers  a  defeat  at  Lignano 
by  the  Lombards,  and  narrowly 
escapes  capture;  affairs  of  Italy 
pettlod  by  a  treaty  of  peace  with  the 
Lombards,  and  the  Emperor  returns 
to  Germany,  is  crowiwd  at  Aries, 
127;  marriei^his  eldest  son  to  Con- 
stance, heiress  presumptive  of 
Naples  and  Sicily:  the  Pope  excom- 
municates the  bishops  who  ]>er- 
formed  the  rite;  joins  th«  Third 
Crusade  in  his  seventieth  year,  128; 
leads  his  army  skilfully  to  the 
frontiers  of  Syria,  and  is  drowned 
in  the  river  Calycadnus,  and  buried 
in  Antioeh,  129. 
Frederick  II.  (son  of  Henry  VI.,  grand- 
son of  Barbarossa)  ,  set  \\\t  by  Inno- 
cent 111.,  who  carefully  super- 
intenda  the  education  of  the  young 
Emperor  after  the  decease  of  his 
mother,  Constance:  versed  in  the 
arts  and  sciences,  he  also  cxiltivates 
jHXjtry,  and  lashes  the  follies  of  his 
day  in  sharp  satirical  verse;  his 
lK)iitical  energies  expended  in  an 
ever-recurring  struggle  between  the 
Pope  and  the  empire,  133;  neglects 
Germany  for  his  inheritance  of  the 
two  Sicilies;  launches  keen  sarcasms 
agains  the  Holy  See,  and  is  excom- 
municated by  Gregory  IX.;  special 
circumstance  which  gives  rise  to  the 
quarrel  with  that  Poi>e,  134;  is 
crowned  by  the  Sultan  Alkamel, 
king  of  Jerusalem;  hastens  back  to 
Italy,  and  comjHjLi  the  Pope  to  make 
peace  with  him,  and  remove  the 
excommunication,  135  ;  his  son, 
Henry,  left  in  Germany  to  govern 
the  empire,  revolts  agninst  him,  is 
deposed,  and  dies  in  pvison,  130;  the 


Emperor  marries  Isabella,  sister  of 
Henry  III.  of  England;  Conrad,  his 
younger  son,  elected  successor,  as 
King  of  the  Romans:  Frederick  de- 
feats the  Lombards  and  Milanese; 
excommunicated  a  second  time  by 
Gregory  IX.,  137  ;  deposed  and 
banned  by  Innocent  IV.,  139;  his 
death;  his  intellectual  qualities  and 
attainments  and  brilliant  court,  141. 

Frederick  of  Hohenzollern  (father-in- 
law  of  Rodolph  of  Hapsburg),  de- 
puted to  invite  Rodolph  to  accex)t 
the  imperial  crown,  148. 

Frederick  the  Bitten  (son  of  Albert  the 
Degenerate),  severely  bitten  in  the 
cheek  by  his  mother  as  a  lasting 
reminder  of  her  wrongs,  153 ;  expires, 
worn  out  with  toil,  after  recovering 
his  rights,  156. 

Frederick  of  Austria,  rival  of  Louis  of 
Bavaria,  crowned  King  of  the 
Romans;  his  forces  defeated  by  the 
Swiss;  assails  Louis  near  MUhldorf 
and  is  taken  prisoner,  and  confined 
in  the  Castle  of  Trausnitz;  renounces 
all  claim  to  the  empire;  his  mag- 
nanimity ;  an  arrangement  to  exercise 
conjointly  with  Louis  the  govern- 
ment, 163, 

Frederick  of  the  Empty  Pocket  (of 
the  House  of  Hapsburg),  excom- 
municated and  placed  under  the 
imi>erial  ban,  180;  his  suhgects  re- 
volt, the  hereditary  castle  of  Haps- 
burg laid  in  ruins,  181. 

Frederick  III.  elected  emperor  as 
eldest  representative  of  the  House 
of  Hapsburg;  his  long,  weak,  and 
miserable  reign,  181;  divisions  in 
the  empire,  182 ;  is  crowned  at  Rome, 
marries  Eleanor  of  Portugal,  183; 
acknowledges  the  leader,  Podiebrad, 
King  of  Bohemia;  besieged  in  Vienna 
by  his  brother,  Albert;  in  spite  of 
his  political  address  he  is  regardeil 
with  contempt  from  his  inglorious 
reign,  186. 

Frederick  III.  (Elector  Palatine),quits 
Liitheranism  for  Calvinism,  224;  his 
intolerance;  introduces  the  Genevan 
creed  by  force,  229. 

Frederick  V.  (Elector  Palatine),  marries 
Elizabeth,  daughter  of  James  I.  of 
England,  aims  at  the  Bohemian 
crown,  234;  elected  by  the  Bohemian 
States:  his  character,  236;  disgusts 
his  subjects  by  his  Calvinistic 
fanaticism;  expelled  from  his  king- 
dom, and  put  under  the  ban  of  the 
empire,  237;  is  degrailed  and  de- 
prived of  his  electorship,  238;  tho 


338 


INDEX. 


Palatinate  of  the  Rhine  restored  to 
his  eldest  son,  248. 

Frederick  William  II.  of  Prussia,  the 
Great,  invades  Silesia,  258;  invades 
Bohemia  fruitlessly,  259. 

Frederick  William  III.  of  Prussia,  his 
weak  and  treacherous  character,  294. 

Frederick  William,  crown -prince  of 
Prussia  (son  of  William  I.,  emperor 
of  Germany),  married  to  the  Princess- 
Royal  of  England,  299. 

Frederick  W^iliiam  IV.  of  Prussia, 
succeeded  by  liis  brother,  William  I., 
the  present  Emperor  of  Germany; 
Prussian  aggression;  irritation  be- 
tween the  Prussian  and  Austrian 
governments,  303. 

French  Revolution  of  1848,  its  effects 
upon  Germany,  297. 

GALLo-Romans,  The,  44. 

Gaul,  state  of  in  Sixth  Century,  44. 

Gauls,  their  invasion  of  Germany,  16. 

Genseric,  the  barbarian  leader  of  the 
Vandals,  founds  a  kingdom  in  Africa, 
25. 

Gemld,  archbishop  of  Mayence,  bribes 
the  electors  to  secure  the  nomination 
of  his  cousin  Adolph  of  Nassau  to  the 
crown,  152;  breaks  with  Adolph  and 
procures  his  deposition,  is  reduced 
to  submission  by  Albert  of  Austria, 
154. 

Gei'mani,  its  signification  and  deriva- 
tion, boundaries,  9  ;  the  name  first 
applied,  by  Cajsar,  17. 

Germanic  Confederation,  289;  affairs  of, 
after  1816,  292. 

Germanic  Empire,  dissolution  of,  274; 
the  old,  310. 

Germanic  nations,  origin  of,  10;  bar- 
barians ravage  Gaul,  22;  confedera- 
tions, the  locality  of,  in  fifth  century, 
23. 

German  Unity,  meeting  in  Coburg  in 
favour  of,  against  French  aggression, 
310,  311. 

Germanicus,  his  camixiigns  against  the 
Germans,  defeats  Arminius,  19. 

Gemians,  religion  of  the  ancient,  14; 
emigration  of  the,  20. 

German  tribes,  religion  of,  14  ;  the 
barbarian  laws  of,  45. 

Germany,  a  Teutonic  word,  10 ;  the 
imi)erial  crown  given  exclusively  to, 
and  thence  called  the  Holy  German 
Empire,  88;  its  condition  after  the 
Thirty  Years'  War,  249;  new  political 
divisions  of,  310. 

Goisa,  king  of  Hungary,  fulfils  his  vas- 
salage to  Frederick  Rarbaru^^sa  in 
Italy,  119. 


Gelimer,  Lost  king  of  the  Vandals,  sub- 
dued by  Belesarius,  25. 

George,  elector  of  Hanover  and  king 
of  England,  a  descendant  of  the 
Guelphic  House,  99. 

Qessler,  bailiff  of  Uri,  insults  the  Swiss 
patriots  and  is  slain  by  Tell,  100. 

Ghibellines,  The,  a  political  party  who 
took  part  with  the  Emperor  against 
the  Pui)e8,  99. 

Gian  Gastone,  last  of  the  Medici,  suc- 
ceeded by  Maria  Theresa  in  Tuscany, 
257. 

Giselle,  wife  of  Conrad  II.,  laments 
his  loss  until  her  death,  98. 

Godfrey,  the  Norman  chief,  obtains 
Friesland  from  Charles  the  fat,  who 
afterwards  causes  him  to  be  mur- 
dered, 73. 

Gouthram,  kingof  the  Burgundians,  4*2. 

Gregory  VIII.,  Pope,  summons  the 
princes  of  Euroi)o  to  a  Third  Crusade, 
128. 

Gregory  IX.,  frustrated  in  holding  an 
cecumenical  council  by  Frederick  II., 
dies  through  mortification,  138. 

Grimbald,  son  of  Pepin  d'Heristal, 
mayor  of  the  })alace,  53. 

Grumbach,  William  de,  of  Franconia, 
procures  the  assassination  of  Mel- 
chior,  bishop  of  Wurtzburg;  is  put 
to  death,  225. 

Guelphs  and  Ghibellines,  commence- 
ment of  the  rivalry  of,  114. 

Gunther  of  Schwartzenburg,  chosea 
anti-Caesar  to  Charles  IV.,  poisoned 
by  an  emissary  of  the  latter,  165. 

Gustavus  Adolphus,  king  of  Sweden, 
his  secret  alliance  with  the  Protes- 
tants of  Germany;  his  character  and 
abilities;  subsidised  by  Richelieu  to 
check  the  ix)wer  of  Austria;  gains  a 
victory  over  Tilly;  is  repulsed  by 
W.iUenstein,  239;  is  killed  at  the 
battle  of  Lutzeu,  240. 

Hann'o,  archbishop  of  Cologne,  con- 
spires to  carry  off  the  young  king 
Henry  IV.  and  obtain  Uie  regency; 
proclaims  himself  regent,  and  as- 
sumes guardianship  of  the  emperor, 
102;  his  character  and  conduct,  103. 

Hanover,  the  crown  of,  separated  fromi 
the  English  crown,  294. 

Hapsburg,  the  powerful  counts  of,  156; 
become  the  supporters  and  tools  of 
the  Poi)e,  161. 

Hengist  and  Horsa  subdue  England 
and  form  the  Heptarchy,  28. 

Henry  I.,  surnamed  the  Foicler,  sub- 
dues and  re-unites  Lorraine  to  Ger- 
many, 79;  his  frontier  camiwigus; 


INDEX. 


339 


sanguinary  conflict  with  the  Hun- 
garians, SO;  expedition  against  the 
Danes,  81. 

Henry  II.,  surnametl  the  Saint  (the 
Bavarian),  elected  Emperor,  93;  ob- 
tains the  iron  crown  of  Lombardy; 
liis  escape  from  assassination  at 
Pavia,  94;  crowned  by  the  Pope; 
with  his  death  the  Saxon  dynasty 
ends,  95;  results  of  his  treaty  with 
Rudolph,  king  of  Burgundy,  97. 

Henry,  the  Proud,  duke  of  Bavaria, 
his  dominion  greater  than  that  of 
the  Emperor;  marries  Gertrude,  only 
daughter  of  Lothar,  114;  refuses  sub- 
mission to  Conrad  III.,  and  is  de- 
prived of  his  duchies. 

Henry  III.,  surnamed  the  Black,  his 
character,  defeats  the  Magyar  nobles 
on  the  Raab;  convokes  a  council  at 
Sutri,  and  deposes  the  three  Poj^es, 
Benedict  IX.,  Sylvester  III.,  and 
Gregory  VI.,  as  illegally  appointed; 
after  Clement  II.  the  Emperor 
gives  three  more  popes  to  Ronie,  all 
bishops  of  Germany,  100;  confers  the 
German  duchies  on  various  princes 
from  high  iwlitical  motives,  his  sud- 
den death,  101. 

Henry  IV.  ,trouble8duringhisboyhood, 
102;  knighted  and  rieclared  a  man  at 
fifteen;  his  campaign  against  the 
Hungarians,  104;  manies  Bertha 
of  Susa ;  the  Saxons  disinter  and 
insult  the  corpse  of  Henry's  son:  he 
overcomes  them  in  Thuringia,  and 
they  surrender,  105;  commences  the 
interminable  wars  of  the  investi- 
tures, 106;  pronounces  sentence  of 
deprivation  on  the  Pope;  the  Em- 
peror's degradation  at  Canossa  by 
llildebrand,  107;  his  children  rebel 
against  him;  conquered  and  taken 
prisoner  by  his  youngest  son ;  strip- 
l)ed  of  all  his  possessions,  and  dies 
'  in  extremity  of  want  and  desolation, 
109. 

Henry  V.  recommences  the  struggle 
about  the  right  of  investiture  with 
Pascal  II.;  marches  uiK)n  Rome  with 
a  large  army  and  tjikes  the  Vo\w 
prisoner;  the  Pope  renounces  the 
right  of  investiture  in  favour  of  the 
Emperor  and  crowns  him.  Ill;  by 
the  Concordat  of  Worms,  the  rights 
of  Emperor  and  Pojw  are  clearly 
defined;  dies  childless,  and  with  him 
ends  the  Salic  or  Fraukish  House  of 
Saxony.  112. 
Henry  the  Lion,  the  duchy  of  Bavaria 
restored  him  by  Frederick  I.,  118; 
extendi    widely    his    conquests   iu 


Silesia  and  Pomerania;  meets  Bar- 
baiossa  at  Chiavenna  and  refuses  to 
join  him  in  his  campaign;  punished 
by  forfeiture  of  all  his  possessions 
save  Brunswick  and  Luneburg,  and 
banishment  from  the  empire,  127; 
retires  to  the  court  of  his  father-in- 
law,  Henry  II.  of  England  (Plan- 
tagenet) ;  his  wife  Matilda  gives 
birth  to  a  son,  who  becomes  head  of 
that  branch  of  the  House  of  Han- 
over now  reigning  in  England,  128. 

Henry  VI.,  eldest  son  of  Barbarossa, 
succeeds  him  as  Emperor,  129;  iu 
chai-acter  cruel,  avaricious,  and  nar- 
row-minded; his  ignoble  conduct  to 
Richard  C(xur  de  Lion  for  the  affront 
to  his  brother  Duke  Leopold  at  Acre; 
his  avarice  and  cruelty  in  Naples  and 
Sicily;  dies  suddenly  during  an  in- 
surrection in  Sicily;  in  this  reigu 
Styria  is  added  to  Austria,  and  the 
expense  of  fortifying  Vienna  paid  out 
of  the  king  of  England's  ransom,  131. 

Henry  VII.,  of  Luxemburg,  elected 
Emperor  through  the  intrigues  of 
Peter,  archbishop  of  Mentz;  follows 
in  the  footsteps  of  Charlemagne  aiul 
Bai'barossa  and  worthily  upholds  the 
dignity  of  the  empire,  160;  is  crowned 
at  Rome,  dies  suddenly  near  Sienna, 
poisoned;  the  empire  falls  a  prey  to 
factions,  161. 

Henry  VIII.  of  England  courted  by 
the  rival  monarchs  Francis  I.  and 
Charles  V. 

Henry  the  Pious,  duke  of  Ijower  Silesia, 
attempts  to  rei>el  the  Mongol  inva- 
sion, but  is  slain  near  Liegnitz,  138. 

Henry  the  Iron,  of  Holstein,  joins 
Edward  III.  of  England  against  the 
French,  166. 

Honorius  obtains  the  empire  of  the 
West,  20. 

Hungarians,  nine  years*  truce  with,  79. 

Hungary,  Invasion  of,  by  the  Turks, 
211. 

Huns,  The,  their  characteristics,  29; 
their  invasion  of  Europe. 

Huss,  John,  a  disciple  of  Wickliff,  tried 
for  heresy  and  burnt  alive,  176. 

Hussites,  the  war  of,  176. 

Innocent  X. ,  Pope,declare8  the  treaties 
of  Munsterand  Osnabruck  void,  245. 

Interregnum,  the  imperial  crown,  put 
up  to  auction,  the  whole  of  Germany 
becomes  a  scene  of  bloodshed,  pillage, 
and  anarchy,  143. 

Italy,  results  of  the  liberation  of,  in 
1859,  301;  secret  treaty  with  Prussia 
against  Austria,  304. 


340 


INDEX. 


Jerome  of  Prapne  tried  for  heresy  and 
burnt  alive,  176. 

Jerusalem,  the  title  of  kins:  of.  passes 
from  Frederick  II.  to  the  King  of 
Naples  and  Sicily.  135. 

John  of  Bohemia,  nephew  of  Albert  of 
Austria,  conspires  to  assassinate  his 
uncle  the  Emperor,  155;  flies  into 
Italy,  and  is  confined  for  life  at  Pisa, 
156. 

John  XXII..  Pope,  tlie  natural  enemy 
of  the  Ghibellines,  his  rapacity,  163. 

John,  the  blind  king  of  Bohemia, 
bravely  falls  at  Crecy ;  the  inscription 
on  his  sword  "  Ich  dien"  a<«sumed  by 
the  Prince  of  Wales  as  his  motto,  106. 

John  XXIII.,  Poi^e,  escapes  from  the 
Council  of  Constance,  but  is  delivered 
up  to  the  Emperor  and  Council,  de- 
])osed  and  condemned  to  rigorous 
imprisonment,  175;  Pope  Martin 
IV.  receives  his  submission,  and  the 
great  western  schism  ends,  176. 

Joseph  I.  (son  of  Leopold  I.)  his  short 
but  eventful  reign;  Louis  XIV.  hum- 
bled, acknowleilges  the  Archduke 
Charles  as  King  of  Spain;  the  war 
of  the  Spanish  Succf^sion;  the  vic- 
tories of  his  general  Prince  Eugene, 
253;  his  reign  and  character,  *2;>4. 

Joseph  II.  (eldest  son  of  Maria  Theresa 
and  Francis  of  Lorraine)  a  cipher 
during  his  mother's  lifetime,  acquies- 
ces in  the  partition  of  Poland,  261. 
joins  Catherine  of  Russia  in  a  war 
against  Turkey,  261. 

JuannaofSpain  (daughter  of  Ferdinand 
and  Isabella)  marries  Phili[),  son  of 
Maximihan  1.,  193;  imprisoned  by 
command  of  her  father,  11«5;  becomes 
JTicurabiv  insane  at  the  death  of 
Pliilip,  196. 

KoNiGSMARK,  the  Swedish  General, 
tnkes  Prague,  the  last  event  of  the 
Tliirty  Years'  War,  247. 

Ladislaus,  king  of  Hungary  (son  of 
Albert  II.  of  Austria)  universally 
recognised  as  King  in  Bohemia,  but 
the  lowers  of  government  exercised 
by  two  factions,  182. 

Xadislaus  of  Poland  conquered  and 
slain  by  the  Turks  at  Varna,  1S2. 

Ladislaus  (son  of  Ci^simir,  king  of 
Poland)  elected  king  of  Bohemia, 
185. 

Leopold,  the  margrave  of  Austria  (ute- 
rine brother  of  the  Emi)eror  Conrad) 
lays  the  foundations  of  Vienna,  115. 

Leopold,  duke  of  Austria,  his  dastardly 
revenge  against    Richaid    Cieur  de 


Lion,  his  death  from  a  fall  from  his 
horse,  130. 

Leopold  I.,  emperor  of  Germany,  his 
reign  and  character,  251-253. 

Leopold  II.,  condition  of  Europe  on 
his  accession,  261 ;  terror  caused  by 
outbreak  of  the  French  Revolution; 
his  efforts  to  save  his  sister  Maria 
Antoinette;  his  character,  262. 

Leopold  of  Hohenzollern-Signiaringen, 
his  relations  with  Frencli  interests. 
Marshal  Prim  offers  him  the  crown  of 
Spain;  gives  in  his  resignation,  307. 

LoUius  defeats  the  Segambri,  17. 

Lombardy  wrested  from  Austria,  208. 

Lothaire  (eldest  son  of  Louis  the  Good- 
nat  lived)  utterly  defeated  by  hia 
brothers  at  Fontenaille,  obtains  the 
title  of  Emiwror,  71. 

Lothar  of  Saxony,  91. 

Lotharingia,  or  I^nd  of  Lothaire,  now 
called  Lorraine,  72. 

Lothar  of  Saxony,  count  of  Supplin- 
burg,  chosen  emperor;  renounces  all 
the  prerogatives  of  his  \)redeces8or, 
and  consents  to  hold  his  crown  as 
vassal  of  the  Holy  See,  113;  marries 
his  only  daughter,  Gertrude,  to 
Henry  the  Proud,  duke  of  Bavaria, 
and  gives  him  the  duchy  of  Saxony: 
commencement  of  the  rivalry  of  the 
Guelphs and  Ghibellines;  Lo\har  dies 
in  a  i>oai»ant*s  hut  in  the  Tyrol,  114. 

Louis  the  Debonnaire,  his  weakness  of 
character,  does  penance  for  putting 
out  the  eyes  of  his  nephew,  68;  re- 
bellion of  his  elder  sons,  69;  is  twice 
deposed,  70. 

Louis  II.  (son  of  Louis,  the  Good- 
natured),  suruamed  the  German, 
made  first  King  of  Germany,  72. 

Louis  the  Child,  king  of  Gerniany,  last 
of  the  Carlovingians  in  Germany,  76. 

Louis  V.  of  Bavaria  (of  the  Austro- 
Hapsburg  family)  an  enemy  of  the 
Austrian  princes,  and  an  ally  of  the 
Luxemburg  factions;  he  and  his 
rival,  Frederick  of  Austria,  both 
crowned  Kings  of  the  Rom:uis;in  the 
victory  near  MUhl<lorf  owes  his  suc- 
cess to  Schweppermaiin,  162;  is  exco- 
municated  by  Pope  John  XXII.;  his 
generous  conduct  towards  Frederick 
his  rival;  retains  the  sceptre  and 
reigns  alone;  the  whole  empire  placed 
under  an  interdict;  assumes  the  iron 
crown  at  Milan,  dei)Oses  the  Poi*e,  and 
places  on  the  papal  throne  a  monk, 
under  the  title  of  Nicholas  V. ;  his 
treachery  towards  Edward  III.  of 
England,  164;  killed  at  a  bear  hunt, 
165. 


INDEX. 


341 


Lndolph  (eon  of  Otho  the  Lion),  duke 
<»f  Swahia,  revolts  as;ainst  his  father, 
who  deprives  him  of  his  dukedom,  86. 

Luther,  Martin,  his  career  before  his 
opposition  to  Rome,  199;  his  sermon 
against  indulgencieg ;  attacked  by 
Henry  VIII.  of  England  in  a  treatise; 
summoned  to  Rome,  and  afterwards 
before  the  Diet  of  Worms,  201. 

Lutheran  party,  The,  styled  Protest- 
ants, 209. 

Manfred  (natural  son  of  Frederick 
II.)  occupies  Naples  and  Sirily;  is 
defeated  and   slain    by  Charles  of 
Anjou,  144. 
Margaret  (daughter  of  Frederick  II.), 
wife  of  Albert  the  Degenerate,  is  re- 
pudiated by  him:  in  excess  of  grief 
bites  the  cheek  of  her  son  as  a  re- 
minder of  his  parent's  wrongs,  and 
dies  at  Frankfort,  153. 
Maria  Theiesa  (daughter  of  Charles 
VI.),  archduchess  of  Austria,  queen 
of  Hungary  and  Bohemia,  and  Em- 
press of   Germany;  her    succession 
disputed;  Frederick  of  Prussia  de- 
mands the  suiTender  of  Silesia,  she 
flees  to  Hungary,  and  convokes  the 
Diet,  258;  the  magnates  rise  in  arms 
at  het  appeal;  she  wages  a  plorious 
war,  259;  the  "partition  of  Poland" 
the  only  reproach  of  her  political 
life;  her  character,  260. 
Marius,  defeats  the  Cimbri,  16. 
Marlborough,  Duke  of,  his  victories  in 

the  Low  Countries,  253. 
Martel,  Charles,  delivers  France  from 

the  Saracens,  50. 
Mary    of    Burgundy    (daughter    and 
heiress  of  Cluirles  the  Rash),  marries 
Maximilian  I.,  187;  dies  from  a  fall 
from  her  horse,  1S9. 
Marzfelder  ("  fields    of    March,")  the 

Frank  assemblies,  47. 
Matilda  (heiress  of  Boniface  of  Tus- 
cany),  her  zealous  partisanship  of 
Hildebraud,  108. 
Matthias  (son  of  Maximilian  IL),  the 
Ktjite  of  Germany  on  his  accession. 
233. 
Maurice  of  Saxony,  death  of,  216. 
Maximilian  I.  (son  of  Frederick  III.) 
betrothed  to  Mary  of  Burgundy,  186; 
his  unopposed    succession    on    the 
hereditary  principle;  the  situation 
of  Germany  changed  on  the  death  of 
Frederick  III.,  187;  consequences  of 
the  marriage  with  Mary,  188,  189; 
after  her  death  married  by  proxy  to 
Anne  of  Brittany:  failure    of   the 
marriage,  190;  his  imprisonment  by 


the  Flemings,  191;  marries  Bianca 
Maria,  sister  of  Galeazzo  Sforza  of 
Milan;  unsuccessful  in  a  campaign 
against  Florence,  192;  relations  of 
Germany  and  Spain;  he  founds  the 
Aulic  Council,  193;  defeat  of  his 
army  by  the  Swiss,  194;  cedes  Milan 
to  France.  196;  the  treaty  of  Blois; 
defeated  by  the  Venetians;  his  de- 
cline and  death,  197. 

Maximilian  II.  (son  of  Ferdinand  I.), 
his  character  and  extraordinary  ac- 
quirements, 223;  his  policy  towards 
the  Elector  Palatine,  224;  his  waning 
influence  and  death,  226. 

]^rayors  of  the  palace,  48. 

Meroveus,  the  first  Merovingian  king, 

Merovingian  kings,  their  characteris- 
tics, 51. 

Merovingian  empire,  decadence  of,  48. 
Middle  Ages  end  with  Maximilian,  202. 
Modern  history,  commencement  of,  202. 
Mongols,  The,  overrun  Germany,  138. 
Montebello,  the  brilliant  battle  of,  300. 

Nelpon,  Lord,  disavows  the  capitula- 
tion of  Naples  to  the  Austrians,  271. 

Nicephorous,  the  Greek  usurper,  in- 
sults Charlemagne,  64. 

Normans.  The,  make  a  piratical  descent 
upon  Friedland,  C5:  they  establish  an 
nideiieudent  dukedom  in  Normandy, 

to. 

Oath,  The  Strasbnrg,  71. 

Odillon,  abbot  of  Cluny,  organises  the 
"Truce  of  God,"  98. 

Odoacer  founds  a  barbaric  kingdom  in 
Italy,  31;  overcome  by  Theodoric  at 
Aquileia,  40. 

Otho  I.,  surnamed  the  Lion  (son  of 
Henry  the  Fowler),  his  character,  82; 
his  foreign  wars,  84;  crowned  King 
of  the  Lombards;  his  victory  over 
the  Hungarians,  85;  receives  the  im- 
perial crown  from  the  Pope;  end  of 
his  glorious  career,  88. 

Otho  11. ,  surnamed  the  Red,  his  charac- 
ter; his  army  destroyed  by  Lothaire, 
king  of  Fiance,  89;  marches  upon 
Paris,  his  disastrous  retre  it;  defeated 
by  the  Greeks  and  Saracens,  90;  dies 
of  grie^  91., 

Otho  IIL,  surnamed  the  Prodiffi/,  hia 
education  and  character,  92;  his 
death,  probably  poisoned  by  Ste- 
phania,  widow  of  Crescentins,  93. 

Otho  IV.  (son  of  Henry  the  LionX 
chosen  emperor  by  the  Guelphic  fac- 
tion, 131;  to  secure  the  support  of 
Innocent  III.  he  recognises  in  the 


342 


INDEX. 


INDEX. 


343 


Pope  the  full  power  of  bestowing  the 
empire ;  and  after  the  assassination  of 
Philip  the  rival  emperor  is  crowned 
at  Rome;  marries  a  daughter  of 
Philip  in  the  hope  of  conciliating  the 
Ghibellines;  is  driven  out  of  Rome 
by  the  populace;  the  Pope  sets  up 
against  him  Frederick,  son  of  Henry 
VI.,  and,  on  being  formally  dei)osed, 
retires  to  his  duchy  in  North  Ger- 
many, and  there  dies,  133. 

Otto  the  Illustrious,  infuses  the  crown, 
76. 

Ottocar  of  Bohemia,  x)ossessor  of  the 
hereditary  states  of  Austria  Jis  well 
as  Bohemia,  is  placed  under  ban  by 
Rodolph  of  Hapsburg  as  a  rebel ;  sur- 
renders Austria,  Styria,  Carinthia, 
and  Carniola  to  the  empire,  150; 
his  bitter  mortification  and  humilia- 
tion; he  revolts,  and  is  slain  in  battle 
near  Marchefeld,  151. 

Oxenstiern,  regent  of  Sweden,  prose- 
cutes tlie  war  vigorously  against  Fer- 
dinand II. 

Paris,  after  a  long  siege,  submits  to 
the  German  forces,  309. 

Pasa-iu,  the  treaty  of,  its  effeci  on  Pro- 
testantism, 215.  [48. 

Pepin  de  Landen,  mayor  of  the  palace, 

Pepin  d'lleristal,  48. 

Pepin  the  Short  (son  of  Charles  Mar- 
tel),  sole  major  domus  of  France,  53 ; 
his  wars  and  victories,  54;  founder 
of  the  second  or  Cai-lovingian  race 
of  kings,  55. 

Peter,  the  Magyar  king,  restored  to  the 
rule  of  his  country,  as  a  fief,  by  the 
Emperor  Henry  III.,  100. 

Philip  of  Hohenstaufen  (uncle  of  Fre- 
derick, heir  to  Henry  VI.),  chosen 
emperor  by  a  faction,  whilst  Otho, 
son  of  Henry  the  Lion,  is  also  chosen 
by  the  Guelphic  party  and  crowned 
at  Aix-la-Chai)elle,  tluis  dividing  the 
authority  of  the  empire,  131. 

Philip  the  Handsome  {le  bel),  king  of 
France,  claims  the  imperial  crown, 
160. 

Philip  (son  of  Maximilian  I.),  marries 
the  Infanta  Juanna  of  Spain,  1!>.'J; 
Ferdinand  of  Aragon  refuses  to  yielcl 
up  to  him  the  throne  of  Castile,  195; 
his  mysterious  death,  lOG. 

Piccolomini,  the  imperialist  general, 
drives  Banier  out  of  Bohemia,  242. 

Poland,  The  first  partition  of,  260. 

Poles,  The,  summon  to  their  aid 
against  the  Prussians,  Hermann  of 
Salza,  Grand  Master  of  the  Teutonic 
Order,  13d. 


Popes,  Tlie,  origin  of  the  temporal 
power  of,  54;  the  prerogative  ac- 
quired by  them  throuKh  the  corona- 
tion of  Charlemagne,  04. 

Procopius,  the  monk,  leader  of  the 
Taborites,  defeats  the  mercenaries  of 
Sigismund,  and  ravages  Austria  and 
other  states;  vanquished  in  the  battle 
of  Prague,  178. 

Prussians,  The  Pagan,  conquered  and 
civilised  by  the  Knights  of  the  Teu- 
tonic Order,  and  I'russia  becomes 
their  iwssession,  136. 

Prussia  rises  into  Germany,  297;  ter- 
ritorial jx>sitiou  of,  before  and  after 
the  war  with  Austria;  her  prepa- 
rations for  war  with  France,  306; 
France  declares  war  against-  her 
(1870),  307. 

Raspon,  Henry,  landgrave  of  Thurin- 
gia,  chosen  Emjjeror  in  place  of 
Frederick  II.,  140, 

Ravenna,  exarchate  of,  its  donation  to 
the  Pojie  by  Pepin,  54. 

Reformation,  commencement  of  the, 
IDS. 

Richelieu,  Cardinal,  subsidises  Gusta- 
vus  Adolphus  to  check  Austria,  239, 

Roger,  the  Nonnan,  of  Naples,  con- 
spires with  Guelpli  against  Conrad 
III.,  118. 

Rollo  and  the  old  pirate  Hastings 
pillage  Paris,  73. 

Roman  empire  divide<l  between  the 
two  sons  of  Theodosius,  20. 

Roman  France  conquered  by  Teutonic 
France,  52. 

Romulus  Angustulus  dethroned  by 
Odoacer,  31. 

Rotlolph  of  Hapsburg,  his  character 
and  career  during  the  interregnum: 
swears  unconditional  obedience  to 
Gregory  X.;  his  coronation;  begins 
his  reign  by  purging  Germany  from 
internal  disorder;  suppresses  the  rol>- 
ber  chiefs  and  compels  the  homage 
of  the  great  princes,  140;  humbles 
the  pride  of  Ottocar  of  Bohemia,  150; 
reduces  all  Austria  as  far  8S  Vienna; 
founds  the  in>i)erial  dynasty  of  Aus- 
tria; cedes  all  the  rights  of  the  em- 
pire over  the  terri  tories  of  the  church, 
151;  dies  universally  lamented;  the 
ti-anquillity  of  his  reign,  his  admir- 
able character  as  a  sovereign,  152. 

Rodolph  II  (son  of  Maximilian  II.), 
the  right  of  primogeniture  in  the 
House  of  Austria  established;  his 
character,  his  attempts  to  curtail 
religious  liberty,  228;  dissensions  of 
the  Lutherans  and  Calvinists;  civil 


dissensions  ruin  the  trade  of  Ger- 
many, 230;  his  eccentricities  and 
misgovernment;  compelled  to  abdi- 
cate Bohemia,  Silesia,  and  Lusatia, 
231;  his  decease,  232. 

Rudolph  III.,  of  Burgundy,  present  at 
coronation  of  Conrad  II.  at  Rome; 
his  treaty  with  Henry  II.  and  its 
consequences,  97. 

Rupert,  Count  Palatine,  elected  Em- 
peror; crosses  the  Alps,  is  defeated 
by  the  Duke  of  Milan,  and  inglori- 
ously  retraces  his  steps,  172;  his  uu- 
exiHicted  death,  173. 

Russian  influence  in  Germany,  298. 

Saladin,  sultan  of  Egypt,  defeats  the 

Christians  near  Tiberius,  128. 
Salian  Frai.ks,  their  laws,  45. 
Salic  Law,  The,  46. 
Saxons,  The,  subdued  and  christianised 

by  Charlemagne,  59. 
Schleswig-Holstein,  the  question  of  the 

duchies  of,  295. 
Schweppermann,  by  his  skill  gains  the 
battle  of  MUhldorf,  1022,  his  reward 
of  two  eggs,  103. 

Segambri,  they  repel  the  attacks  of 
Agrippa,  17. 

Segovesus,  king  of  the  Kelta;,  16, 

Sens,  its  six  months  heroic  defence 
against  the  Normans,  74. 

Seven  Weeks'  War,  The,  battles  of 
Sadowa,  Lissa,  and  Custozza,  305. 

Sigebert,  king  of  Austrasia,  seizes  upon 
theterri tories  of  his  brother  Chilperic, 
is  assassinated  by  Fredegonde,  43. 

Sigismund,  margrave  of  Brandenburg, 
(brother  of  Wenceslaus),  succeeds  to 
the  throne  of  Hungary;  elected  Em- 
jjeror, his  arrogant  character,  173  ; 
summons  a  council  to  meet  at  Con- 
stance; his  misconduct  during  the 
Council;  the  Bohemians  oppose  his 
succession,  and  it  costs  him  a  war  of 
sixteen  years  to  attain  it,  176  ;  suc- 
ceeds to  the  crown  of  Bohemia,  178; 
his  farcical  coronation  at  Home;  the 
nobility  conspire  against  him,  his 
death,  179. 

Sigismund,  John,  and  the  Turks,  225. 

Soliman  the  Magnificent  invades  Hun- 
gary, dies  from  anxietv  and  fatigue, 
226. 

Spinola  ravages  the  Palatinate,  237, 

Stephen  II.,  Poi)e,  crowns  Pepin  at  St. 
Denis,  54. 

Stilicho  invites  Alaric  to  invade  Italy. 
20.  •^' 

Strasburg  Oath,  The,  71. 

Suevic  race,  its  localities,  political 
system  and  mode  of  life,  11;  con- 


founded with  the  people  of  Spain 
and  Portugal,  a.d.  685,  26. 

Suidger,  bishop  of  Bamberg,  placed  in 
the  pontificial  chair  by  Henry  III., 
and  takes  the  name  of  Clement  II. 

Swiss  War  of  Independence,  The,  156. 

Swabia,  The  duke  of  (second  son  of 
Barbarossa),  dies  of  the  plague  before 
Antioch,  in  his  twentieth  year,  129. 

TANXsrAR,haIf.brother  of  Otho  the  Lion, 
revolts  against  him  and  is  slain,  83. 

Tell,  William,  the  Swiss  patriot,  158. 

Theodobert,  king  of  Austria,  conquers 
the  Greeks  and  Goths  in  Italy,  41. 

Theodobert  II.,  king  of  Austria,  47. 

Theodoric  erects  the  empire  of  the 
Ostrogoths,  40;  arrests  the  career  of 
Clovis,  41. 

Theoi)hania,  daughter  of  the  Greek 
Emj)eror  Nicepiiorous,  marries  Otho 
II.,  88;  governs  the  empire  for  her 
infant  son,  91. 

Thierry  (son  of  Clovis,  and  King  of 
Metz),  massacres  the  Thuringians,  39, 

Thierry  II.,  his  four  sons  assassinated, 
43;  king  of  Burgundy,  47. 

Thierry  III.,  (last  of  the  "Sluggard 
Kings  ")  nominally  governs  Austria 
and  Neustria,  50. 

Thirty  Years'  War,  the,  235;  vicissi- 
tudes of,  ended  by  the  Peace  of  West- 
phalia, 244;  its  varied  horrors,  246. 

Tiberius,  intrigues  with  the  Germans, 
17;  guards  the  Rhine,  18. 

Tilly,  Count  (General  of  Ferdinand 
II.),  completes  the  conquest  of  the 
Palatinate,  238;  is  killed  at  the  pas- 
sage of  the  Lech,  239. 

Trajan  defeats  the  Germans,  19. 

Trent,  the  Council  of,  213, 

"  Truce  of  God,"  The,  organization  and 

operation  of,  98. 
Turenne,  Marshal,  gains  the  victory  of 
Zummerhausen  and  invades  Bavaria 
and  Bohemia,  244. 

Urban  III.,  Poi>e,  dies  on  hearing  of 
the  defeat  of  the  Christians  by  the 
Saracens,  128. 

Vandals,  The,  found  a  kingdom  in 
Africa,  zb. 

Varus,  Quintilius,  provokes  the  Ger- 
mans to  rebellion  by  his  extortions, 
17;  his  legions  cut  to  pieces  by  Ar- 
minius,  18. 

Venetia  surrendered  by  Austria  to 
France,  305. 

Verdun,  treaty  of,  repartition  of  Char- 
lemagne's empire,  71;  the  unity  of 
Chiistian  Europe  dissolved  by  the 
treaty  of,  72. 


344 


INDEX*. 


Versailles,  treaty  of  (1S71),  300. 
Vitigis,  king  of  the  Ostrogoths,  cedes 
Provence  to  the  Franks,  41. 

Wallenstkin  commands  the  army  of 

Ferdinand  II. :  issecretlyassaasinated 

by  the  Emperor's  orders,  240. 
War,  the  Religious,  in   France  and 

Germany  begins,  214. 
War  of  the  Spanish  Succession,  252. 
War  of  the  A  uxtrian  Succession,  257  • 

ended  by  the  Peace  of  Aix-la-Cha- 

pelle,  259. 
War,  the  Seven  Tears',  209. 
Weimar,  the  Duke  of  Saxe,  defeats  the 

imperialists;  his   mysterious  death, 

242. 

Weinsberg,  Duke  Guelph  of,  defeated 
by  Conrad  III.  at,  115;  the  scene  of 
the Weibertreue  "woman's fidelity," 

VVencesIaus(son  of  Charles  IV.>suoceeds 
to  tlie  throne:  his  vicious  life  and 
detestable  character,  168;  the  Bohe- 
mians rise  against  him  and  consiijn 
hira  to  a  dungeon  for  four  months, 
169  ;  divides  the  empire  into  four 
circles,  170;  is  deposed  171;  is  driven 
out  of  Prague  and  dies  in  an  ano- 
plectic  fit,  177.  ' 


Westphalia,  tlie  treaty  of  the  ley  of 
mwlern  history;  its  conditions,  24S. 

Wickliffe,  the  Bohemians  made  ac- 
quainted with  the  writings  of,  by 
the  marriage  of  Anna,  sister  of  Wen- 
ce9lau3,with  Richard  II.  of  England. 
171. 

William  of  Holland,  his  pretensions  to 
the  imperial  throne,  142. 

William  L,  king  of  Prussia,  maile 
Emperor  of  the  New  German  Em- 
pire, 311. 

Winkelried,  his  patriotism  at  Sem- 
pach,  171. 

Witenageniots  (Councils  of  the  Wise), 
the  Anglo-Saxon,  47. 

Wittikind.  the  Saxon  leader,  long  re- 
sists Charlemagne,  89. 

Wladisl.is,  duke  of  Bohemia,  obtaiiis 
the  title  of  King  tlirough  his  fidelity 
to  Frederick  Bar  ha  rossa,  119. 

Wurtembeig,  the  King  of,  denounces 
the  insidious  ambition  of  Pru8sia,29S. 

Zapoli,  John  of,  Palatine  of  Tran.syl- 
vania,  220. 

Ziska,  leader  of  the  Taborites,  defeats 
Sigismund  and  captures  Prague,  177. 

Zwentibold  obtains  the  duchy  of  Bo- 
hemia from  Arnulf,  74. 


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